Speech #780122455

President. it is also true that natives of all that part of southern Asia coming within the socalled geographically prescribed zone. have not. generally speaking. been admitted to the United States since 1917. But when we search our statutes we find that the Chinese are the only persons who have been classified by native origin and denied the right to enter or remain in this country. The repeal of the Chinese eiclusion laws will not substantially change our basic immigration policy for the following reason: When the Congress passed the act which became effective on July 1. 1924. it put a provision in that actsection 13 (c). to be specificwhich provided. in substance. with certain very limited exceptions such as ministers and professors. that no person racially ineligible to naturalization could be admitted to the United States. As a matter of fact. the Chinese exclusion laws could very well have been repealed at that time because this broad provision of the 1924 act. in a comparatively few words. accomplished the major objectives of the various Chinese exclusion laws. All that section 2 does is to grant an annual quota of 105 to cover all Chinese persons. no matter where they are born. This differs from the present quota laws. in which nativity is almost the sole determining factor as to the quota to which a person may be charged. %The Chinese quota is based entirely upon Chinese people as such. In fact. it states that "all Chinese perscns entering the United States annually as immigrants shall be allocated to the quota for the Chinese." Under this language. a Chinese coming to the United States as an immigrant to reside permanently shall be charged to the one quota of 105 set aside for persons of the Chinese race. regardless of where they are born. Fears have been expressed during the course of the committee hearings that persons born outside of China could be charged to the quota of the country in which they were born. or. if born in nonquota countries. such as countries of the Western Hemisphere. could enter regardless of the Chinese quota. However. a careful reading of the section should dispel that assumption. It merely means that 105 Chinese immigrants. not now entitled to enter the United States. may come here to reside. The committee report carefully states this to be a fact. I desire to make it clear that the 105 persons permitted to enter the United States under section 2 must. of course. meet all of the mental. moral. physical. and financial standards provided for In existing immigration laws. All that section 3 does is to make Chinese persons eligible for naturalization. Under the present law. only white persons. African black persons. and "persons of races indigenous to the Western Hemisphere." the latter language simply meaning American Indians. are eligible for naturalization. The amendment provided for in section 3 merely adds Chinese persons or persons of Chinese descentand these two ternis are interpreted synonymouslyas being persons of a race eligible to naturalization. They must also meet all of the existing laws dealing with naturalization. such as the socalled educational requirements. establishment of good moral character. attachment to the principles of the Constitution of the United States. and so forth. Thus far I have. In a very general way. attempted to tell what is hoped to be accomplished by the bill.