Speech #810210738

These do not alter the basic principles of the House measure and are primarily liberalizing features which now seem warranted on the basis of developments during the past 10 months. One of these changes deals with the perplexing problem of the German ethnic expellee. Late last summer the distinguished junior Senator from Illinois and I devoted a great deal of time and attention to the expellee problem. a problem faced now by some 8.000.000 refugees of German ancestry. After thorough study of the matter. the Senator from Illinois and I jointly sponsored two amendments to the House bill. The first of our amendments was intended to provide an effective means whereby some 52.000 German ethnic expellees could in fact reach this country and take up a new life as future Americans. We proposed to make this group a special exception to our existing immigration laws by providing that our Government would underwrite transportation costs from Europe to this country in a fashion comparable to that in which the IRO now provid3s transportation for DPs. *We also proposed that certain other requirements imposed upon regular immigrants be waived. making it possible for charitable. religious. and other welfare agencies to provide assurances of support for the expellees as is done for the IRO DPs. In effect. this waives for that group the operation of the contract labor clause. and we also proposed to waive the usual requirements of visa and head taxes. We felt that these waivers were justified on the grounds that we are dealing here with uprooted people who had been forced to flee from countries of eastern Europe. and thus are refugees living in alien lands. The ordinary iinmigrant. on the other hand. generally comes directly to our country from his native land. The second amendment submitted by the Senator from Illinois and myself sought to get at the very heart of the problem confronting the 8.000.000 German ethnic refugees now cast adrift on the warshattered economies of Germany and Austria. We proposed an international conference on the whole question. suggesting that America take the lead in urging other nations to join with us in working out jointly a solution to this problem of real international concern. I should like to add that the distinguished senior Senator from Wisconsin has suggested several improvements in the first of the two amendments submitted by the junior Senator from Illinois and myself in that he has increased the total eligible to 54.744 German ethnics. and has made it possible to speed their arrival in America by permitting their admission at any time between now and the middle of 1952. Two other desirable changes in the House bill were suggested in the bill reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 25 of this year. Both are incorporated in the substitute. The first will permit admission of 10.000 Greek refugees driven from their homes by the Communistled guerrillas. Even though civil order has been restored in Greece and the guerrilla warfare stamped out. the Greek economy is beset with many problems. and this provision will enable a number of these unfortunate refugees to find a new home in America. The substitute also includes the provision in the January 25 bill which will permit the adoption of 5.000 orphans. though the substitute measure liberalizes the committee proposal by allowing any American to participate in the adoption program. Then. yesterday. the distinguished senior Senator from New York submitted an amendment for himself and for me. which is new to the committee bill and the substitute. Our amendmentwhich I hope the Senate will adoptwill permit 5.000 refugees from the Yugoslav section of Venezia Giulia and the Yugoslav zone of Trieste to become eligible under the DP program. These refugees. most of them of Italian ancestry. face a bleak future at present. and this can be an important first step to bring about a real solution to the refugee problem in that troubled area. These changes should. I believe. be incorporated in the basic House bill. and I feel confident that the House will go along with us in them. I am satisfied. Mr. President. that an overwhelming majority of the American people realize the importance of American participation in the international refugee problem. I am also satisfied that the American people believe that a home must be found for the refugee who has been driven from his native land as a direct consequence of World War II itself. or who was forced into exile by Communist oppression in eastern Europe which came as an aftermath of the war. Now I should like to address myself for a moment to the charges that the DP program has been shot through with fraud and maladministration. We have heard much about this. and I feel that the substance of the charges. and the evidence to support them. boils down to this: First. the international refugee problem was. and is. one of vast scale. Since the IRO came into existence. more than 760.000 refugees have been relocated135.000 of them right here in America. In a program so vast. some mistakes are bound to occur. We have got to look at the whole picture.