The date of December 22. 1945. which appears in the pending bill. limits the eligibility of displaced persons to those who entered Germany. Austria. or Italy between September 1. 1939 and December 22. 1945. The date obviously excludes any refugees who entered those countries between December 22. 1945. and the socalled critical date. April 21. 1947. There is a period of a little less than 2 years during which we assumed responsibility in our camps for certain personsI shall try to describe the status of those personswho came into our camps between those two dates. In advocating this change of date. as proposed in the pending amendment. let me develop more in detail the reasons supporting the change: First. The earlier date. as contained in the committee bill. apparently was selected merely because it was the date of issuance of the Presidents directive making regular immigration quota numbers available to displaced persons. and giving them priorities for such quota numbers. There was nothing in the Presidents directive which necessarily fixed December 22. 1945 as a limit for eligibility. there is no valid and logical connection that I can find between this date and the fundamental issues presented by the displaced persons problem. There is no relationship between this date and th responsibility of the United States.
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immigration refugees