Speech #700124784

I wish to say that a great many misrepresentations have been made. undoubtedly in good faith and innocently. about the provisions and effect of that clause. It has been charged that it is an attempt to increase imlmigration quotas into the United States from Europe and other parts of the world. As a matter of fact it proposes nothing of the kind and has nothing to do with increasing or decreasing the number of immigrants who can come to the United States. It has nothing to do with any part of the immigration act. except that the movement to repeal is based on the report of the three members of the Cabinet who. under the law. were asked to investigate the national origin of the population of the United States. In their final report that commission of three Cabinet officers stated that tile data available upon which to base new quotas under the national origins provision of the immigration act of 1924 were so unreliable that they refused to assume any responsibility for the correctness or the fairness of quotas based upon such data. Later Doctor Hill came with another proposition and appeared before the Immigration Committee of the Senate. I think the committee was unanimous. or practically unanimous. in agreeing that the data were so unreliable that it should refuse to take the responsibility of havingthe national origins clause of the law of 1924 become effective. and I believe the committee unanimously recommended to the Senate the passage of a resolution for its postponement. The President elect was a member of the commission of three Cabinet officers who signed that report.