Speech #820154070

The evidence also established that the principal conduit for penetration by these foreign agents is through the pipeline of diplomatic immunity. Prior to the passage of the Internal Security Act. officials of the Department of Justice testified before the Senate subcommittee that under the then existing law they were powerless to exclude from the United States any alien who presented a diplomatic passport. The Chief of the Visa Division of the Department of Justice told us that in every single 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 in international organization. the case had been approved. nevertheless. by the higher echelon of the Department of State. He further testified that the cases involving aliens in diplomatic status. in which the Visa Division had disapproved the application on security grounds but in which the Visa Division was uniformly overruled. were running at the rate of 8 to 10 a month. Furthermore. under the then existing law. the Immigration and Naturalization Service was prohibited from instituting deportation proceedings against any alien in diplomatic status without the approval of the Secretary of State. May I add parenthetically this approval was rarely granted. In preparing the Internal Security Act of 1950 those of us who labored for many months with the various proble.ns of internal security were confronted with the undeniable fact that Russia had an open door through which Communist agents were being sent into this country in great numbers. We recognized. however. that so long as this country maintains diplomatic relations with Communist countries it would be necessary for us to admit into this country some aliens in diplomatic status who are Communists and under Communist discipline. The Internal Security Act accordingly excepts from the excludable classes those aliens in diplomatic status who would be normally excludable because of membership in the Communist Party. The act provides. however. for the exclusion from the United States of any alien. irrespective of his status. whose presence in this country would endanger the public security. and for the deportation of any alien. irrespective of his status. whose presence in this country. after arrival. endangers the public security. Moreover. the Internal Security Act changes the old law by providing that in these public security cases the officials who enforce our immigration laws need not consult the Secretary of State or anybody else before executing their duties under the law. After the passage of the Internal Security Act. the Senate. under the provisions of Senate Resolution 366 of the second session of the Eightyfirst Congress. established the Internal Security Subcommittee which. according to the resolution. has as one of its duties the task of maintaining a constant surveillance over the administration and enforcement of the Internal Security Act. As a member of the Internal Security Subcommittee I was designated chairman of a unit to study the administration and enforcement of those provisions of the Internal Security Act relating to subversive aliens in diplomatic status. On August 12 of this year. after ex�tensive hearings. we released a report which was accompanied by substantial testimony bearing on the subject. It was evident from the testimony. and our report in substance stated that. notwithstanding these provisions of the Internal Security Act which provide for the exclusion and deportation of aliens whose presence in this country endangers the public security. virtually nothing was being done by the executive department to carry those provisions into effect. At that timeon August 12 of this yearthe subcommittee issued a recommendation calling for an immediate and vigorous program of enforcement. But the subcommittee did not stop with a mere recommendation.