Mr. Niall Burgess:

I will deal with the first question the Chairman asked, which brings in some of the other issues raises, and I will go back then to see if I have left anything out. He asked about the degree of hope and optimism felt by embassy staff in Washington that the process will lead to a successful conclusion both for the undocumented and for the future flow of visas. Everyone acknowledges that there are very good grounds for optimism this time around. That rests on a number of factors. The first is that this Bill has been carefully crafted on a bipartisan basis in the US Senate and is sponsored by four Democrats - Chuck Shumer, Dick Durbin, Bob Menendez and Michael Bennet - and four Republicans - John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio and Jeff Flake. We also know that there is broad support among figures in the Republican Party for immigration reform. There is a debate going on in the party about the need for it to embrace the immigrant community and to be seen to be supportive of that community. That is a good sign.