Red tape could keep swimmer Jens-Peter Berndt,...

Red tape could keep swimmer Jens-Peter Berndt, an East German defector, from taking part in the 1988 Olympic Games. Berndt missed the 1984 Games in Los Angeles when the Communist Bloc boycotted the Olympics.

Sen. Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.) is considering legislation that could cut the five-year waiting period of most immigrants to attain citizenship to perhaps six months in Berndt’s case. However, a Denton aide said it could take months or even years for the measure to get through Congress.