Speech #610081492

I shall be glad to yield to him for a question. The gentleman from Texas suggested. and the gentleman from Illinois has followed along the same line with a speech. that this bill is unconstitutional. because it is attempting to reenact that portion of the present law which was held unconstitutional in the Keller case. Now. that matter received very careful attention. not only by the Committee on Immigration but by the members of the Inmigration Commission and some of the law officers of the Government. and we believe that we have covered it. and thoy believe that we have. so that the bill is constitutional. and if enacted into law will be so held by the Supreme Court should it come before it. The Keller case held that simply harboring an alien prostitute was an offense against the State. was subject to its police power. and that the Congress of the United States had no jurisdiction under the Constitution to punish such an offense. Although three justices of the Supreme Court dissented from that opinion. to my mind the reasoning of the majority of the court is conclusive.