Speech #700189492

The bill under consideration. however. proves beyond doubt that honest criticism is helpful and beneficial. We have now before us a bill which I am pleased I can support and vote for. because the conferees. after I had pointed out to them the many harsh. inhumane. and retroactive provisions. agreed to eliminate them. and now we have a bill that will punish real offenders and not merely unfortunates. I only regret that my provision and amendment which aimed for the deportation of the vicious gun gangs has not been agreed to. However. I recognize that not one in a thousand of that class is an alien. but I was desirous of securing the passage of that provision more for the purpose of closing the mouths of those who continually yell and who continually are trying to unload the crime wave upon the alien. notwithstanding that in their hearts they know that these charges are false and untrue and are being repeated by them deliberately and willfully so as to create prejudice against the immigrant or the alien in the minds of the American people. And now. Mr. Speaker. I wish to speak on H. R. 349. the socalled naturalization relief bill. which the chairman of the committee and many others are trying to make you and the country really believe that it is a relief bill. I concede that it will make possible for some aliens who have entered the United States before July 1. 1921. and of whom there was no record made at the ports of entry. to offer evidence to prove that they have actually entered legally and secure the rights and privileges of beconying American citizens. after. however. complying with all the naturalization laws which. however. this act materially not only strengthens but will make rather expensive. Now what does the bill really do? It provides. in the first place. that a man who can prove thathe (1) entered the United States prior to July 3. 1921. (2) has resided in the United States continuously since such entry. (3) is a person of good moral character. and (4) is not subject to deportation. will receive a registration certificate for which he will be obliged to pay $20 and that because the Government has failed to keep records of his entry. After that. under section 4. which provides that upon payment of $5 he will receive. under section 5 of the bill. a certificate of arrival. which. under section 4. is necessary. and which will be required of all aliens in the future. before being perinitted to nmke or file his declaration of intention. and after receiving this certificate. for which he will pay this $5. and not until then can he file his application for declaration of intention for which. instead of $1 as now. lie will be obliged to pay another $5. Two years thereafter. if he proves he resided continuously for over two years in the United States. he will have the privilege to file a petition for citizenship and for which he will be charged $10 instead of $4. as under -the present law. and if he is found to be entitled to be naturalized. upon payment of another $5. he will receive a certificate of naturalization. After he has complied with all these requirements and will be naturalized and has received a certificate of naturalization. section 32 provides that. upon payment of $10. he can obtain a copy of his certificate if sameis lost or destroyed. Provision (b) of section 32 gives him the privilege of obtaining a special certificate of citizenship if he desires same to be used when traveling or going abroad. for which he is to pay an additional $10. and this. in addition to the passport that is required of him and for which a fee of $10 is charged by the State Department. but we are not through as yet with all the certificates. There are other certificates to come. Section 33. to my mind. is the most objectionable of all. That section provides and goes much further. because. it does not apply to aliens or to those who are seeking citizenship. but it also applies to approximately 3.000.000 American citizens. who became citizens by act of. Congress. through the naturalization of their parents or those who became citizens by marriage before the Cable Act went into effect. And though it is not mandatory for them to obtain a certificate of their citizenship. I feel that this provision will have a tendency to force these approximately 3.000.000 American citizens to comply with this provision and obtain such certificates. There is no doubt but that the authorities everywhere will demand and require that all naturalized citizens in the United States. including the 3.000.000 citizens made so by the law of the land. prove their citizenship by producing their certificate of citizenship. under this section. and for which they will be taxed $10. saying nothing of the annoyances that it will subject them to. So. to make the matter clear to all. I insert section 33 and show how farreaching it is. Sac. 33. (a) Any individual over 21 years of age who claims to have derived United States citizenship through the naturalization of a parent. or a husband. may. upon the payment of a fee of $10. make application to the Commissioner of Naturalization. accompanied by two photographs of the applicant. for a certificate of citizenship. Upon obtaining a certificate from the Secretary of Labor showing the date. place. and manner of arrival in the United States. upon proof to the satisfaction of the commissioner that the applicant is a citizen and that the alleged citizenship was derived as claimed. and upon taking and subscribing to. before a designated representative of the Bureau of Naturalization within the United States. the oath of allegiance required by the naturalization laws of a petitioner for citizenship such individual shall be furnished a certificate of citizenship by the commissioner. but only if such individual is at the time within the United States. In all courts. tribunals. and public offices of tile United States. at home and abroad. of the District of Columbia. and of each State. Territory. or insular possession of the United States. the certificate of citizenship issued under this section shall have the same effect as a certificate of citizenship Issued by a court having naturalization jurisdiction. In addition to this the bill has several other provisions. which. however. to my mind are not of great importance. unless it be section 36. as well as the provision in section 33 which provides that from now on all applicants and all naturalized citizens will be obliged to furnish two photographs of themselves when making an application for citizenship. One of these photographs is to remain part and parcel of the record in the Bureau of Naturalization. which I greatly fear will become a bureau of registration. and from all indications much more stringent than even existed in Russia under the old Czar regime. To my mind. if this bill is entitled to be called a relief bill it is because it relieves the alien and even the American citizens of several $5 and $10 bills. These fees. to my mind. are excessive. as now. though we charge only $1 for declarations of intention and $2 for time application and $2 for naturalization. there has been a profit or surplus in that bureau of over .$260.000 last year. LXX---312 Mr. Speaker. it is to be deplored that a great and rich Nation like ours should be guilty of extracting these excessive fees and placing itself in a position as a profiteering Nation. Instead of this being a relief bill it is a bill that will make in the future the naturalization not only more expensive but much harder to obtain. and notwithstanding the fact that the people responsible for this legislation criticize the immigrant or the alien that they do not become American citizens. or. in other words. first. they make naturalization nearly impossible. and then they charge that they do not care to be naturalized.