Speech #810322129

Mr. President. I invite the attention of the Senate to the seventh and last segment of the bill which consists of those provisions of Senate bill 3069 which I introduced and which has been previously reported favorably by the Committee on the Judiciary to establish a bureau of passports and visas. In the course of the investigation of the immigration and naturalization systems which was conducted by a special subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary. it was developed that under the present system many of the decisions of the Visa Division of the Department of State. particularly in security cases. have been overruled by other divisions of the Department of State and that the Passport Division and Visa Division of the Department of State are precluded from direct contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other intelligence agencies of the Government. The only intelligence information available to the Visa Division and to the Passport Division is now filtered through intermediate offices of the Department of State. During the hearings conducted by the subcommittee the Chief of the Visa Division testified to the effect that in every case in which the visa Division had disapproved a visa application on security grounds involving an official of a foreign government or an affiliate of an international organization the case had been approved by other intermediate offices of the Department of State. In fact. the eVidence before the subcommittee was to the effect that not a single visa app Lication involving an affiliate of an international organization or an official of a foreign government had ever been denied on security grounds and not a single official of a foreign government or affiliate of an international organization had ever been excluded on security grounds at a port of entry. To meet this situation this segment of the bill establishes in the Department of State a bureau of passports and visas to be headed by a director with rank and compensation not less than that of an Assistant Secretary of State. The Director would be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and would have authority to maintain direct liaison with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other security officers of the Government for the purpose of obtaining and exchanging information necessary to enforce the provisions of the law. I cannot emphasize too strongly. Mr. President. the urgency of this segment of the bill if we are to accomplish our objective of protecting the internal security of the United States. Under the present system there is relegated to a place of minor significance the agency of this Government which is charged with the responsibility of issuing visas. The Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service reports directly to the Attorney General and is an officer of considerable authority. but under the present system the chief of the visa division of the Department of State is under the thumb of a number of divisions within the Department of State which are not primarily concerned with the security problems of this country. I therefore again emphasize the importance of strengthening the administration of the law which this segment of the bill would do if we are to have a sound internal security system. I have tried to the best of my ability.