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    "ocrText": "FOIA Number: 2011-0586-F\nFOIA\nMARKER\nThis is not a textual record. This is used as an\nadministrative marker by the William J. Clinton\nPresidential Library Staff.\nCollection/Record Group:\nClinton Presidential Records\nSubgroup/Office of Origin:\nPress Secretary\nSeries/Staff Member:\nMike McCurry\nSubseries:\nOA/ID Number:\n11102\nFolderID:\nFolder Title:\nImmigration\nStack:\nRow:\nSection:\nShelf:\nPosition:\nS\n94\n3\n10\n1\nimmigration\n10-1-96\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the Press Secretary\nEMBARGOED UNTIL SIGNING\nSeptember 30, 1996\nSTATEMENT OF THE PRESIDENT\nI have signed into law tonight H.R. 3610, a fiscal 1997 omnibus appropriations and\nimmigration reform bill.\nThis bill is good for America, and I am pleased that my Administration could fashion\nit with Congress on a bipartisan basis. It moves us further toward our goal of a balanced\nbudget while protecting our values and priorities -- educating our children, providing a clean\nenvironment, fighting crime, protecting our families from drugs, and combating terrorism.\nThe bill restores substantial sums for education and training, fully paid for in my\nbalanced budget plan and furthering my agenda of life-long education to help Americans\nacquire the skills they need to get good jobs in the new global economy.\nIt provides the funds through which Head Start can serve an additional 50,000\ndisadvantaged young children; fulfills my request for the Goals 2000 education reform\nprogram to help states raise their academic standards; increases funding for the Safe and\nDrug-Free Schools program, helping states educate children to reduce violence and drug\nabuse; and fulfills my request for the largest Pell Grant college scholarship awards in history,\nexpanding the number of middle- and low-income students who receive aid by 126,000 -- to\n3.8 million.\nFor the environment, the bill provides funds to support the Environmental Protection\nAgency's early implementation of two major new environmental laws that I signed this\nsummer -- the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Pesticide and Food Safety Law. At the\nsame time, the bill does not contain any of the riders that would have been harmful to the\nenvironment.\nFor law enforcement, the bill ensures that my program to put 100,000 more police on\nthe streets of America's communities by the year 2000 proceeds on schedule; with this bill,\nwe will have provided funding for 64,000 of the 100,000 that I called for at the start of my\nAdministration. The bill also increases funds for Justice Department law enforcement\nprograms, for the FBI's crime-fighting efforts, and for new Federal prisons.\n-more-\nAs I had urged, the bill also extends the Brady Bill to ensure that those who commit\ndomestic violence cannot purchase guns, rejecting efforts to weaken that proposal.\nI am pleased that the bill provides $1.4 billion in funding to address my requests for\nanti-drug programs. It doubles funding for Drug Courts; increases funds for drug interdiction\nefforts by the Defense, Transportation, and Treasury departments; and provides the resources\nto expand the Drug Enforcement Administration's domestic efforts along the Southwest border\nand elsewhere.\nFor counter-terrorism, the bill funds my request for over $1.1 billion to fight terrorism\nand to improve aviation security and safety. It enables the Justice and Treasury Departments\nto better investigate and prosecute terrorist acts, and it provides funds to implement the\nrecommendations of Vice President Gore's Commission on Aviation Safety and Security and\nthe Federal Aviation Administration's recent 90-day safety review. These funds will enable\nus to hire 300 more aviation security personnel, deploy new explosive detection teams, and\nbuy high-technology bomb detection equipment to screen luggage.\nThis bill also includes landmark immigration reform legislation that reinforces the\nefforts we have made over the last three years to combat illegal immigration. It strengthens\nthe rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and\nin the criminal justice system -- without punishing those living in the United States legally, or\nallowing children to be kept out of schools and sent into the streets.\nThe bill also provides needed resources to respond to fires in the western part of the\nnation and to the devastation brought by Hurricanes Fran and Hortense.\nI am disappointed that one of my priorities -- a ban on physician \"gag rules\" -- was\nnot included in the bill. Several States have passed similar legislation to ensure that doctors\nhave the freedom to inform their patients of the full range of medical treatment options, and\nCongress should have reached agreement on this measure.\nNevertheless, this bill is good for America, and I am pleased to sign it.\n-30-30-30-\n4.1.97\nImmigration Law\nApril 1, 1997\nYesterday, the US District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined for four days the\nenforcement of new regulations concerning the new immigration law passed in 1996. This was\ninresponse to a lawsuit filed by several immigrants' rights organizations, which alleged that there\nwas insufficient public notice surrounding the new regulations (Those new regulations, signed into\nlaw by the President last year, speed up deportation proceedings, among other things.) Late last\nnight, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit stayed the district court's injunction, thereby\nallowing the regulations to go into effect.\nThe INS was four days late in issuing its regulations. However, the regulations were\nmade availabled to the public through the Federal Register well before the thirty-day\nperiod set forth in the statute.\nDelaying the implemenation of the regulations will produce mass confusion. Several\nmillion visas are processed in any given four day period.\nDrafted:\nMEGlynn\nCleared:\nBert Brandenberg, DoJ\n04/01/97 TUE 12:33 FAX\n4.1.97\nBackground: Yesterday, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia\nenjoined, for four days, enforcement of the regulations recently issued by the DOJ to\nimplement the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996\n(IIRIRA). Shortly after midnight, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed\nthe district court's order. The suit, by several immigrants' rights groups, claimed that the\nINS violated a requirement of the APA and IIRIRA that the regulations be promulgated at\nleast 30 days in advance of the April 1, 1997 effective date of IIRIRA. The Department\nused an emergency procedure to expedite availability of the regulation to the public, and\nbelieves that no rule was violated. In addition, the Department believes that allowing the\nstatute to go into effect without the implementing regulations would create a grave harm\nto the public interest, particularly as regards the procedural protections afforded by the\nregulations to aliens whom the government seeks to remove from the United States.\nQ: What did the district court order?\nAl The district court prohibited the INS from applying its regulations implementing the\nnew immigration law, but did not prohibit the statute itself from going into effect. The\ncourt's injunction was for four days.\nQ: What was the basis of the lawsuit?\nA: The complaint was that the INS was four days late in issuing its regulations.\nHowever, the regulations were made available to the public at the Federal Register\nthrough an emergency procedure well before the thirty-day period set forth in the statute.\nQ: Could the regulations have been issued sooner?\nA: The implementation of this statute was a massive effort that involved, among other\nthings, overhauling the immigration regulations, rewriting INS procedures, revising or\nreplacing dozens of forms, issuing extensive guidance to the field, and training thousands\nof INS officers. The statute allowed only five months to put the implementation into\nplace. Under this severe deadline, the INS and the Department of Justice produced a\nsound set of regulations and procedures, with considerable opportunity for public input,\nand put them into place in time for the statute to go into effect today. It's a considerable\naccomplishment.\nQ: Are the regulations now in effect?\nA: Yes. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit stayed the district court's\ninjunction shortly after midnight. thereby allowing the regulations to go into effect.\nQ: What is the status of the case?\nA: A briefing schedule has not yet been set.\nContact: Eric Andrus (514-8080), INS Press Office; Brad Glassman (305-0846) or Brian\nHayes (514-4616), INS Office of the General Counsel.\n12:09 (301) .10- APR\n100\n4.23.93\nFY 1996 Legal Immigration Numbers\nContact Eric Andrus, INS, 202/514-8080\nBackground\nThe Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) announced today that\n915,900 persons legally immigrated to the United States in Fiscal Year 1996, a\n27 percent increase over FY 1995's total of 720,461. The INS annually releases\nretrospective reports on legal immigration to the United States.\nQ: What is the Administration's response to this seemingly large increase?\nA: The Administration has always supported legal immigration that protects\nAmerican workers, reunites families, and encourages citizenship. The yearly\nfluctuations in levels of legal immigration that are evident in today's figures\nare expected because of the way the law works. It accommodates yearly\nchanges in demand for employment-based visas, protecting American\nworkers from unfair competition and also providing U.S. employers with\nneeded skilled workers. Yearly changes in the law also reflect the mechanics\nof how family reunification occurs and the pace at which immigrants seek\nand achieve naturalization.\nLegal immigration, supported by aggressive control of illegal immigration, is\nan important part of this nation's future. As the President said in his State of\nthe Union address, legal immigration and the diversity that results from it\nare parts of the strength of America.\nQ: Does the Administration have any plans to move forward with legal\nimmigration reform?\nA: (per Steve Warnath) Majority Leader Lott has said that he will not put any\nsuch legislation forward this year. This view has also been voiced by Senator\nAbraham, new chair of the Immigration Subcommittee. The Administration\nsupports appropriate improvement and reform of the nation's legal\nimmigration system - as long as such reform reflects the Administration's\npro-family, pro-work, pro-naturalization principles.\nPR. - 22' 97 (TUE) 11:06\n700 'd\n6/5/97\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the Vice President\nFor Immediate Release:\nContact: (202) 456-7035\nJune 4, 1997\nSTATEMENT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT\nON THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS\nSUBCOMMITTEE WELFARE PROPOSAL\nI am very concerned about how the proposed Republican amendments to the welfare\nlaw would affect disabled legal immigrants. The amendments are harsh, unfair, and\nunnecessary, and they violate the terms of the bipartisan balanced budget agreement by failing\nto restore a minimal safety net for these individuals.\nThe Republican proposal is unfair to families of limited means. In failing to restore\nbenefits for SSI beneficiaries whose sponsors have incomes over 150 percent of the poverty\nlevel, it would cut off 100,000 severely disabled immigrants who would receive benefits under\nthe budget agreement. A family of four with an income as low as $24,000 would have to fully\nsupport a person with a severe disability.\nThe Republican proposal also fails to protect SSI and Medicaid benefits for legal\nimmigrants who were in the United States as of August 23, 1996 and later become disabled.\nAs a result, it violates a key provision in the budget agreement that was designed to target\nassistance to the most vulnerable individuals.\nThe provisions affecting disabled legal immigrants were an important element of the\nbudget agreement, and the Administration worked hard to secure them. We expect both sides\nPHOTOCOPY\nPRESERVATION\nto adhere to them.\n###\nMessage Sent To:\nTHE WHITE HOUSE\nOffice of the Vice President\nFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nContact: (202) 456-7035\nThursday, June 5, 1997\nVICE PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES WELFARE-TO-WORK COMMITMENTS\nOF DEPARTMENTS, MAJOR AGENCIES\nWashington, D.C. -- Vice President Al Gore today (6/5) announced the commitment of\neach Cabinet department and major agency to hire specific numbers of welfare recipients over the\nnext four years.\nThe commitments, outlined in the Vice President's new pamphlet -- Federal Welfare-To-\nWork Commitments, A Report to President Bill Clinton -- will ensure that the Federal\nGovernment meets the President's goal of hiring 10,000 welfare recipients over the next four\nyears.\n\"All employers, including the federal government, have a role to play in moving people\nfrom welfare to work,\" the Vice President said. The report which I am releasing today\ndemonstrates how the Federal government will do its fair share and lead by example.\"\nThe report stresses four elements necessary for any organization to succeed in hiring and\nretaining welfare recipients.\nA leadership commitment tailored to the mission and culture of the organization.\nEnergy Secretary Frederico Peña, for example, is holding a one-day workshop of his\ndepartment's managers. Defense Secretary William Cohen has committed to hire 1,600\nwelfare recipients and will send a personal request to individual leaders in the contractor\ncommunity.\nRecruitment strategies that target the right person for the right job. Agencies will\nsend job announcements to social service offices, private industry councils, and one-stop\ncareer centers. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt will build on the success of current\nprograms like the Youth Conservation Corps and the recruitment strategies of the Bureau\nof Indian Affairs, and he has outlined a recruitment process that identifies eight work\ncategories and associated skills needed for them.\nRetention policies like supervisory training, mentoring, child care and\ntransportation support. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman has created a free resource\nguide and training packages for those hiring welfare recipients and has offered to provide\ntechnical assistance in the field. This training was developed by studying the best practices\nof the most successful welfare-to-work programs in the country.\nA commitment to leverage hiring with partners in the public and private sectors.\nTransportation Secretary Rodney Slater is encouraging private sector transportation\nemployers to make a commitment to hire welfare recipients.\nOn May 29, the Vice President announced the creation of a Welfare-to-Work Coalition to\nSustain Success that will help welfare recipients keep the jobs they find. Studies have shown that\nlarge numbers of welfare recipients lost the jobs they get within 12 to 16 months. Working with\nfederal and state offices, private organizations, and business, members of the coalition will identify\navailable resources and provide support that new workers need most to retain jobs -- mentoring,\nadvice, and other support.\nCopies of the report are available by calling the National Performance Review at (202)\n632-0150 or on the website (w2w.fed.gov).\n###"
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