Thank you, Chairman Brownback and Ranking Democrat Kennedy, for holding this important hearing today to examine the state of our immigration policy. This hearing is timely and necessary. In fact, just today, Secretary of State Powell and Attorney General Ashcroft are meeting with a high level Mexican delegation to talk openly about immigration policy. I am hopeful that this meeting will be one of many future discussions on U.S.- Mexican immigration.
As you all know, the immigration process impacts not only American economic competitiveness and diplomatic relations, but more importantly, it directly affects families and children. Tragically, families are often split up because of deficiencies and delays in the immigration and naturalization process.
In the 106th Congress, to help address one such problem, I cosponsored Senator Nickles' bill, the "Adopted Orphans Citizenship Act," which amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to enable children adopted from foreign countries to attain U.S. citizenship more easily. The Adopted Orphans Citizenship Act became public law in October 2000. I hope we can do much more to improve our immigration system this year.
Today, we will hear testimony on the merits of family-based and employment-based criteria in determining immigration and citizenship status. Family reunification the cornerstone of America's immigration policy and must remain so. However, in an increasingly global economy, America's future competitiveness requires us to take a look at how immigration can make our economy stronger.
While a discussion of immigration policy goals is important, I'd like to take a moment, Mr. Chairman, to call the Subcommittee's attention to the process that implements these policies. I am speaking of the operations of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). It appears that although the INS consistently has received more money from Congress year after year, services have not improved. Management and personnel problems in the INS, coupled with a growing numbers of immigrant applications, are leading to backlogs all around the country.
Let me give a few examples from my home state of Ohio. This time last year, my casework office had 67 pending immigration cases. This year, due to the backlog at the INS, we have 147. In Cleveland, the INS office takes about 18 months to process a naturalization case, much longer than the INS's goal of 8-12 months.
For some applicants, this delay can cost them their jobs, which also presents a problem for their American employers. Worse still, extensive delays threaten applicants' ability to even remain in this country.
Our friend and former Senate colleague
-- and now Secretary of Energy -- Spence Abraham -- noted when he was Chairman of this Subcommittee, that we have come to a point where we need to consider fundamental reform of the INS. This Subcommittee has started that process. We've begun to carefully examine ways to improve efficiency in the INS, including ways to restructure the INS with respect to services and law enforcement. As a result, the INS has made minor changes. However, no agreement on a complete and viable solution has been reached. I am hopeful that we will continue to work on proposals that will improve the functioning of the INS, which ultimately, will be to the benefit of those immigrants who come to our country legally.
In summary, Mr. Chairman, we are a nation of immigrants -- immigrants who came to these shores in pursuit of freedom, hope, and opportunity. As the Subcommittee on Immigration, we have a mandate to ensure that the proper development and execution of a fair immigration policy -- one that looks out for the welfare of both American citizens and immigration applicants. As a new member of this Subcommittee, I look forward to working with our new Chairman, as well as a former Chairman, Senator Kennedy, to move our immigration policies in a positive direction.
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