Speech #590159241

The House committee had already prepared a bill along the same lines. making various amendments" to the existing law.. including the educational test. and recommended that it be adopted as an amendment to the Senate bill after having struck from the latter everything after the enacting clause. This was done after tile adoption of several amendments. The bill as it passed the House did not contain the educational test. but did contain what was known as the " Littauer amendment" to section 1. which provides in substance that an immigrant who proves that he is seeking admission to this country solely to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds for an offense of a political character. or prosecution involving danger of imprisonment or danger to life or limb on account of religious belief. shall not be deported because of want of means or the probability of his being unable to earn a livelihood. The more important questions that have divided the onferees have been those of the educational test. the Littaner amendment. and the amount to be imposed as a head tax. The Senate adopted $5 as the amount of the head tax in place of $2. lhe existing tax. The House did away with the proposed amendment of $5 and placed the tax where it now is. at $2. The conferees have compromised. and recommended a head tax of $4. But in connectLon with that they have agreed to an amendment providing that when the immigration fund amounts to more tian $2.500.000. and It Is pretty nearly. if not quite. up to that point now. any sum received from the head tax over and above that amount shall be covered into the Treasury. The conferees also recommend that the Littauer amendment be rejected. It appeared to the Senate conferees that under such a provision the class of immigrants that we are most trying to exclude would be brought in. It would open the doors to fraud. It would not apply simply to individual honest cases of the classes mentioned. but it would be used by the undeserving. and our public institutions would soon be burdened with that class who are sure to become public charges if they are admitted to the United States.