Speech #670283182

I would declare them to be a scattered race. with no willing and capable protectors against persecution and oppression. I would call the attention of the people of the earth to what they already know. that the Jews gave to Christianity Its Savior. to mankind its noblest religion. and to civilization much that is grandest and most beautiful in literature. music. and art. These considerations I would make the basis of an exception to the general provisions of this billthat all Jews. from whatever parts of the earth they .came. who satisfied the requirements of the general immigration laws regarding tests of health. sanity. morals. and good citizenship. should be admitted. An exception of this kind would be in keeping with our national traditions of refuge and asylum for the downtrodden of the earth. and would be a fitting acknowledgment of our indebtedness to the authors and finishers of our religious faith. whose code of morals lies deep at the foundation of all our secular laws. State and national. I wish to repeat and emphasize in this speech what I said in that one. I shall probably go a step further when the next immigration bill is offered in this House. I shall probably propose an amendment embodying the principles and providing for the privileges for the Jews that I merely suggested in my speech of April 20. 1921. If I accomplish nothing more. I shall at least test the sentiments and feelings of the Members of this body in relation to the Jews and Jewish immigration. Is there doubt and has there been discussion. you may ask. concerning these sentiments and feelings? Yes. indeed. more than once in the deliberations of committees and in the debates on the floor of this House concerning Jews and Jewish Immigration. The question arose at the hearings before the Foreign Affairs Committee on this resolution before us in a colloquy between Mr. SMITH of Michigan. a member of the committee. and Mr. Abraham Goldberg. of New York City. representing the Zionists of America. Mr. Goldberg seemed not willing to declare that our present immigration laws were aimed at the Jews. but merely contented himself with asserting that the Jews were of all races most severely affected by them. Mr. Goldberg. being a Jew. doubtless felt a certain delicacy and timidity in expressing his real sentiments on the subject. Being a gentile Congressman. I have no such feelings of delicacy and timidity. and I declare to you that It is my sincere conviction that a desire to exclude both Jews and Catholics from our shores has been one of the most potent influences in modern American immigration legislation. I declared this conviction in a speech against the Burnett immigration bill that- I delivered on the floor of this House on March 25. 1916. In that speech I elaborated arguments in favor of my contention and was supported in the debate by exRepresentative William S. Bennet. of New York. and by my distinguished colleague. Mr. GAIUVAN. of Massachusetts. who still is an honored Member of this body. At the hearings of January 20. 1916. before the Immigration Committee. Miss Grace Abbott. of Chicago. a Protestant lady of fine character and extensive experience in immigrant affairs. who is at the present time the efficient head of the Womens Bureau. gave expression to the following deeply significant sentiment: I think many people oppose the recent Immigration because it is Catholic and Jewish instead of Protestant. as the earlier was. I am neither Catholic nor Jewish. This declaration was born of the experience and observations of many years of devoted service spent in helping immigrants. and Miss Abbott knew full well whereof she spoke. But why devote so much time. you may ask. to discussing the immigration question in its relation to the pending resolution providing for a homeland in Palestine for the Jews? The reason is that if we are to shut the Jew from our gates by stringent immigration laws. we should at least be willing to do what we can to aid him in the establishment of a country of his own where he can live in peace and happiness. The plainest dictates of humanity suggest and demand it. A.year and a half ago I traveled extensively in Germany.