Speech #730070087

I lost confidence on what might happen in a vote on this Dickstein resolution. hence. in the interest of the taxpayers of the United States. I made a horse trade with our colleague from New York . I agreed with him that if he would offer an amendment to his resolution providing that no more than $2.000 could be expended on the investigation it provided for. and that if he would promptly on the convening of next session give us a hearing and a vote on my bill to suspend all immigration to the United States for 5 years. I would vote for his investigation of the smuggling of aliens into the United States that has been going on for so long. Under the provisions of his resolution. unless safeguarded by the amendment I demanded. there could have beenspent on.his investigation $100.000 or $200.000 or even $500.000. so I thought it was wise. to begin with. to cut off its fangs and to circumscribe it with a safe and sound limitation. so that not more than $2.000 could be spent under it. And the gentleman from New York accepted my proposition and has placed the amendment I demanded in his resolution. so that only $2.000 may be spent under it. And the horse trade I made was an excellent one for the people. Because the gentleman from New York is Chairman of the Committee on Immigration. Without his help we are not going to get any bill favorably reported out of his committee to suspend all immigration. For years I have had a bill pending before the Committee on Immigration to suspend all immigration to the United States. During one year and another I have been able to get a hearing on the measure. and I have in each instance presented to the committee unanswerable evidence showing the justice and absolute necessity of such a measure. and that American heads of families would never be properly protected. and that there would never be sufficient jobs for Americans. until we stopped all immigration for at least a sufficient number of years for us to assimilate the foreigners we already have here. but it was always impossible to get such a bill reported to the House by such committee. The former chairman of the committee made many protestations of being in favor of stopping immigration. but he would never allow such a bill to be reported. Again. on December 8. 1931. I introduced in the last Congress a bill to prohibit the immigration of all aliens into the United States. Although I made endeavor after endeavor. I was never able to get such a measure reported. During the previous year I had. on December 12. 1930. introduced a similar bill. H.R. 15075. but could not get it reported. although I had promise after promise from the then chairman of the committee that he was in favor of stopping immigration. and that some day he would report such a measure and pass it. Just as soon as this special session of the Seventythird Congress convened. I introduced. on March 9. 1933. the bill to prohibit the immigration of all aliens into the United States for a period of 10 years. and that bill was referred to the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. of which the gentleman from New York is chairman. As a part of the consideration for my horse trade. he has promised that as soon as we meet in the regular session next January he will give us a hearing on this bill. and that he will give the Members of the House a chance to vote on it. I know that the Congress will pass this measure if we can get it out of the committee. I also know that we will never get it out of the committee unless it is the wish of the chairman. And I know that every laboring man in the United States is vitally affected and interested in stopping all immigration for at least a period of 10 years. So by making this trade with the chairman of the committee. we gain two very important and most valuable advantages for the American people. the first being to limit the expenses of this investigation to $2.000. by having the resolution thus amended so that not more than $2.000 can ever be spent under it. and the second advantage being that in January we will get a hearing before the committee and a chance for the Membership of this House to vote to stop all immigration of aliens into the United States for 10 years. For years. also. I have been trying to get a law passed to require all aliens in the United States to be registered. and to force the undesirables and all others who refused to be naturalized to leave the United States. and to severely penalize all ships and companies engaging in smuggling. denying to them the privilege of docking at our ports. I wish it were so that at this very hour we could prevail upon the chairman of this committee to call up and pass. under suspension of all rules. the bill to stop the immigration of all aliens into the United States for at least 10 years. Such a bill ought to be passed at this session before we adjourn. There ought not to be an alien permitted to enter this country for the next 10 years. and especially until we put every American back to normal work.