By a wide margin, the United States remains the major country of destination of the increasing flow of international migrants, legal and illegal. The control of international migration has been the subject of intensive debate in the United States in recent years. Official studies conducted under the Ford, Carter, and Reagan Administrations most notably by the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy have concluded that adequate enforcement of immigration laws cannot be achieved without greatly reducing the incentive represented by the prospect of employment in the United States. The logic of this conclusion is reflected in the proposed Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1982, which, if enacted, will represent thefirst major revision since 1965 in US federal laws governing aliens and immigration. This legislation, sponsored by Senator Alan K. Simpson (Republican of Wyoming) and Representative Romano L. Mazzoli (Democrat of Kentucky), was passed by the United States Senate on 17 August 1982, and, as of October 1982, is pending in the House of Representatives. It provides for increased border enforcement; sets new annual ceilingsjfor total immigration (425,000 immigrants) and Jor individual countries (20,000 immigrants annually per country, except for Mexico and Canada, which could send 40,000 each); and allows legalization of illegal migrants now in the United States by granting permanent resident status Jor illegal aliens who have continuously resided in the United States since I January 1977, and temporary status for illegal aliens who have continuously resided in the United States since I January 1980. The most controversial provisions of the new, legislation have to do, however, with stipulated penalties against persons who knowingly hire (or, for consideration, recruit or refer for employment in the United States) an alien who is not authorizedfor such employment, and with the proposed verification procedure and identification system for eligibility for employment. It is generally agreed that without some such system, holding employers responsible for hiring illegal migrants would be largely meaningless. Reproduced below are excerpts from a speech by Senator Simpson delivered in the US Senate on 12 August 1982 discussing the background and some of the main Jeatures of the proposed Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1982. The full text of the speech appears in the Congressional Record. The quotations thatfollow this document are also a reflection of the national debate on US immigration policy and, in particular, of the conflicting views concerning the development of a system of worker identification through which employment of illegal immigrants to the United States might be controlled.