Speech #820154070

According to the intelligence agencies of this Government she has been in contact with a member of the Soviet intelligence net. She has been aggressive in attempting to cause accreditation by the United Nations to be made as correspondents of other persons of her ilk. Although her first visa application to come to this country was blocked by the British who reported that she was a Communist propaganda agent. she has since her arrival in this country over the course of the last 4 years written scores of articles of Communist propaganda which have been disseminated over the length and breadth of this land. She has promoted various Communist meetings and rallies. The record in the case further discloses. Mr. President. that notwithstanding the strong representations made by our Visa Division and the Division of Security to the Division of International Administration of the Department of State that this alien should be restricted in her activities to the headquarters district of the United Nations. the Chief of the Division of International Administration took the position that Miss Hitschmannova should be allowed to give lectures outside the headquarters district. And now let us consider the problem of the deportation of Miss Hitschmannova. On August 3. 1951. the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service addressed a letter to the Secretary. of State in which he stated that the continued presence in the United States of Miss Hitschmannova may be a threat to the national security. The Immigration Commissioner requested the Secretary of State to inform him as to whether he had any objection to requiring Miss Hitschmannova to depart from the United States. That letter. may I emphasize. was addressed to the Secretary of State on August 3 of this year. To date. no reply has been made by the State Department. Since this letter was received by the Secretary of State both the Visa Division and the Division of Security have strongly recommended that the Department of State do not object to the deportation of Miss Hitschmannova. But. Mr. President.: under date of September 12. 1951. the Chief of the Division of International: Administration of the Department of State. dispatched to the Chief of the Office of Consular Affairs. a memorandum which opposes the deportation of Miss Hitschmannova. We understand that a proposed letter has already being prepared giving the approval of the Department of State to Miss Hitschmannovas remaining in the United States. Earlier in my remarks. I alluded to the testimony which was taken by a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary prior to the passage of the Internal Security Act in which the Chief of the Visa Division of the Department of State testified that in every case 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 the. higher echelon of the Department of State. and that these cases were running at the rate of 8 to 10 a month. In the course of the last few days we held an executive session with the officials of the Department of State on this matter including the Chief of the Division of International Administration and the administrative attorney of the Division. So far as I can comprehend their attitude it is this. that the security of the United States should be weighed in the balance against a policy of facilitating our international relations with other nations. I assert that this is not only a direct violation of the Internal Security Act. which these officials are sworn to uphold and which is designed to protect this country. but is a course leading to the practical annulment of the statutory provisions passed by the Congress to protect our internal security. May I point out that this alien did not enter this country in diplomatic or semidiplomatic status but acquired her accreditation and a series of reaccredita-. tions subsequent to her entry. The last available statistics show that from July 1947. to March 1951. visas totaling 3.616 in number were issued to aliens in diplomatic status to come to the United States from ironcurtain countries. So long as certain officials of this Government refuse to heed the warnings of our intelligence agencies and deliberately ignore provisions of the Internal Security Act. we shall have an open door for the infiltration of spies and saboteurs. The security of our defense secrets shall be in jeopardy.