S.Amdt. 3300

SA 3300. Mr. BYRD submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 3192 submitted by Mr. Specter (for himself, Mr. Leahy, and
Mr. Hagel) to the bill S. 2454, to amend the Immigration and
Nationality Act to provide for comprehensive reform and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

Beginning on page 221 of the amendment, strike line 23 and
all that follows through page 225, line 16 and insert the
following:

SEC. 401. STUDY AND REPORT ON IMMIGRATION.

(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
this Act, titles IV, V, and VI shall not take effect until
the date that is 30 days after the date that the report
required by subsection (c)(3) is submitted to the appropriate
congressional committees.
(b) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the Committee
on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on
Appropriations, the Committee on Homeland Security, and the
Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives.
(c) Study and Report.--
(1) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a study of--
(A) the impacts to the infrastructure of the United States
and quality of life of the people of the United States of--
(i) policies related to the admission of aliens to the
United States and to changes in immigration status of aliens
in the United States; and
(ii) the entry of aliens into the United States illegally;
and
(B) the changes to such impacts that may result from any
proposal to increase in the number of such admissions,
changes in immigration status, or entries.
(2) Consultation.--The Secretary shall consult with the
Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy,
Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, the
Interior, Justice, Labor, Transportation, and the Treasury
and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
in conducting the study required by paragraph (1).
(3) Report.--Not later than 150 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report, after the
Comptroller General of the United States has reviewed such
report, on the findings of the study required by paragraph
(1). The report shall include the following:
(A) An estimate of the populations of legal and illegal
immigrants in the United States as a percentage of the total
population of the United States, and the manner in which the
provisions of this Act and any amendments made by this Act
may affect such percentage.
(B) The projected impact of legal and illegal immigration
on the size of the total population of the United States
during the 50-year period beginning on the date of enactment
of this Act, including such impact to the regions of the
United States that are likely to experience the largest
increases in immigration and the manner in which the
provisions of this Act and any amendments made by this Act
may affect such impact.
(C) An assessment of the impacts of the admission of aliens
to the United States, and the entry of aliens into the United
States illegally, as of the date of enactment of this Act,
and an assessment of the changes to such impacts that may
result from the provisions of this Act and any amendments
made by this Act that increase the number of such admissions,
with respect to each of the following:
(i) The natural environment of the United States, including
the consumption of nonrenewable resources, waste production
and disposal, the emission of pollutants, and the loss of
habitat and productive farmland, including an estimate of the
public expenditures required to maintain standards in each
such area, and the degree to which standards will deteriorate
if such expenditures are not made.
(ii) The rates of employment and wages in the United
States, particularly in industries that historically have
employed large numbers of alien workers, and an estimate of
the public costs associated with any decrease to such rates.
(iii) The need for additions and improvements to the
transportation infrastructure of the United States, an
estimate of the public expenditures required to meet such
need,

[[Page S2840]]

and the impact on the mobility of people in the United States
if such expenditures are not made.
(iv) The quality of education in the United States,
including the ability to enroll in school, and to maintain
class size, teacher-student ratios, and the quality of
education in public schools, an estimate of the public
expenditures required to maintain median standards in such
areas, and the degree to which such standards will
deteriorate if such expenditures are not made.
(v) The rates of homeownership, cost of housing, and the
demand for low-income and subsidized housing in the United
States, the public expenditures required to maintain median
standards in such areas, and the degree to which such
standards will deteriorate if such expenditures are not made.
(vi) The cost of health care and health insurance and the
ability to access to quality health care in the United
States, an estimate of the public expenditures required to
maintain median standards in such areas, and the degree to
which such standards will deteriorate if such expenditures
are not made.
(vii) The effectiveness of the criminal justice system in
the United States and an estimate of the public expenditures
associated with the criminal justice system.
(D) The comments of the Comptroller General of the United
States.
______