Speech #820210126

On my mothers side it was Norwegian. My mother was 7 years old when she came to this country from Norway. The problem of absorbing immigrants from whatever their culture may be is not a serious one so long as our quota immigration is limited to onetenth of 1 percent as under S. 2550. or onesixth of 1 percent as under S. 2842. These figures mean that within 30 years. in one whole generation. the maximum immigration of people from all nationalities cannot be more than 3 to 5 percent of our present population. There is no doubt but that our culture is strong enough to absorb that number over a period of 30 years. I agree with what the Senator from Rhode Island had to say in his brilliant speech on the floor of the Senate yesterday. I know the depth of the sincerity which moved him. and the feeling he had for his people and his background. He pointed out the inadequacy and the inequity of the McCarran bill. The quota system. based upon the census of 1920. discriminates against the people of Italy. as it does against the people of Greece. Austria. Hungary.