[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 211 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 211
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the temporary entry
provisions in the Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreements.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 31 (legislative day, July 21), 2003
Mr. Sessions (for himself, Mr. Kyl, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Craig, Mr.
Graham of South Carolina, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Byrd, Mr.
Dorgan, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Dayton, and Ms. Mikulski) submitted the following
resolution; which was considered and agreed to
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the temporary entry
provisions in the Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreements.
Whereas the transmittal of the legislation implementing the Chile and Singapore
Free Trade Agreements to the Senate on July 15, 2003, was preceded by
debate over whether temporary entry provisions in both the underlying
language of the Chile and Singapore Free Trade Agreements and in the
implementing legislation should be included;
Whereas article I, section 8, clause 3 of the Constitution authorizes Congress
``to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several
States'', and article I, section 8, clause 4 of the Constitution
provides that Congress shall have power to ``establish an uniform Rule
of Naturalization'';
Whereas the Supreme Court has long interpreted these provisions of the
Constitution to grant Congress plenary power over immigration policy;
Whereas members of the Senate often disagree about immigration policy, but agree
that the formulation of immigration policy belongs to Congress; and
Whereas the practice of negotiating temporary entry provisions in the context of
bilateral or multilateral trade agreements curtails the ability of
Congress to regulate the Nation's immigration policies, including the
admission of foreign nationals: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) trade agreements are not the appropriate vehicle for
enacting immigration-related laws or modifying current
immigration policy; and
(2) future trade agreements to which the United States is a
party and the legislation implementing the agreements should
not contain immigration-related provisions.
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