Speech #800042603

Our democratic way of life was born on European shores among oppressed displaced people and was first brought here on the Mayflower. Todays displaced people of Europe are worthy successors to the Pilgrims. Count 4 of the conspiracy is the attempt to make a Jewish issue out of the problem of immigration. to convey the thought that most of the displaced persons are Jewish. and to fan the flames of antiSemitism and racial hatred. This would be despicable even if all the displaced persons of Europe were Jewish. which is not the case. It Is even more contemptible because of the attempt to mingle race prejudice with malicious falsehoods. Eighty percent of the displaced persons are of the Catholic and Protestant faith. And religious organizations of these faiths are solidly behind the movement to take our fair share of the displaced persons of Europe. Only 20 percent of the displaced are of the Jewish faith and of these an overwhelming majority desire to emigrate to Palestine. and not to the United States. On this subject. Commissioner Carusi says: Other rumors imply that large proportions of those persons who are admitted to the United States are of one faith * * *. A preponderance of immigrants from any one religious faith is a matter of chance influenced by economic or other factors which may persuade particular groups to migrate to the United States at any given time. Such a preponderance. if it occurs. is not a violation of law nor does any aliens religious afflijation bear upon his admissibility into this country. Count 5 of the conspiracy is the attempt to disparage refugees who are lawfully in the United States and to describe them as criminals and Communists. The short answer to that is the statement of J. Edgar Hoover. made during the war years. He stated that "the experience of the FBI in coping with foreign agents. spies. and saboteurs has conclusively illustrated that the great mass of aliens are loyal to theUnited States. devoted to the principles of democracy." And all those who have ever made any studies on the subject of immigration and crime have concluded that the overwhelming majority of aliens in the United States are law abiding. Count 6 of the conspiracy is the double barreled falsehood that there are a million veterans unemployed and that the immigration of displaced persons will result in aggravating this unemployment problem. It is true that more than a million veterans were drawing veterans unemployment compensation. On the other hand statistics show that not more than 80.000 drew benefits for any sustained period. At the same time. Department of Labor statistics disclosed that there were critical manpower shortages in agricultural workers. certain types of medical personnel. construction workers. and domestics. It is an economic fact fully supported in a recent booklet entitled Economic Aspects of Immigration published by the National Committee on Immigration Policy. that immigrants do not take jobs away from veterans or other Americans. The bulk of the displaced persons are workers. As I previously stated. there are some 77.000 farm hands among them. some 20.000 are housemaids. Many are skilled workers. some are professionals. others still are business people. There is a great shortage of farm labor and domestic service in the United States. New immigrants who are not workers tend to open noncompetitive business shops. A recent study in a metropolitan city showed that each refugee entrepreneur in business created a job for seven Americans. The largest labor unions in our country. the CIO and the A. F. of L. representing over 13.000.000 workers. are on record as favoring the admission of displaced persons. As stated in recent testimony by a Department of Justice representative. "a great number of immigrants. both quota and nonquota. are not within the competitive field of employment." Many of the displaced are women and children. The small number admitted in proportion to our total population cannot create a serious unemployment problem and it should be remembered that all immigrants are consumers. Count 7 of the conspiracy is the inspired falsification that a regular swarm of persons from Europe has been and Is now coming into this country. It has been said that the present influx is seven times the immigration rate during the depression years of the early thirties. and greater than any year since 1920. What are the facts? In 1929 the United States Congress passed immigration laws permitting 153.000 quota immigrants to enter the country annually. During the war years. from 1940 to 1946 only 15 percent of the total world quota was used. Nine hundred and fourteen thousand seven hundred and sixtytwo people who could have entered the United States legally under quotas did not do so. In the fiscal year ended 1946 only 29.095 quota immigrants entered. Is this greater than the number who entered any year since 1929 or during the depression years of the early thirties? I merely call your attention to the fact that in 1930. 141.497 quota immigrants entered the United States and in each of the five additional years the admissions have exceeded the nimiber Who entered. dirini the last fiscal:y a r 1946. "These are the major cbufits"of the conspiracy which has taken_ hape to distort and donfuse the picture of immigraion and displaced persons.. It is inter-. esting to observe that many of those who fiav ebeen m1isled are the first to"cry for theexpenditure of :moneys to investigate rumors they -helped spread when by mere contact with administrative oflcials.thertrue facts can. be. ascertained. c.oMr. Speaker. the -time has. come whenweshould -do something about the displaced. persons of Europe.