THE WHITE HOUSE



                      Office of the Vice President

________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                     August 6, 1999







                    STATEMENT BY THE VICE PRESIDENT





     In 1997, Congress passed a law that, though well intentioned,

resulted in different treatment among groups of Central Americans

seeking refuge from persecution.



     I am pleased that yesterday our administration submitted to

Congress legislation that will result in fairer, more just treatment for

Central Americans and Haitians who have come to this country seeking

protection from harm.  Our legislation will right the imbalances of the

1997 "Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act" so that our

laws recognize not what type of regime punished a person, but what that

person has suffered.  Specifically, our bill would ensure that migrants

from Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti all

receive similar treatment under U.S. immigration law.



     America is too great a country not to support this bold move for

fairness.  I call on Congress to act on our legislation and achieve

equity in our nation's immigration laws.



     I also want to thank Representatives Christopher Smith, Luis

Gutierrez, Carrie Meek, and Benjamin Gilman and the many other members

of Congress who cosponsored this bill.