Speech #820244839

He has once more demonstrated his great statesmanship and his interest in keeping this country great. and in preserving our leadership of the world. Coming as I do from a district. populated largely by first and second generation Americans. I have been in the forefront of the fight to amend our immigration laws so that they may keep the doors of this great country open to the persecuted and harassed peoples of other countries who seek sanctuary within our borders. The founders of this Nation were in that same category. The continued admission of immigrants has made us the great Nation which we are today. They have brought to our shores many of their skills. in the arts. sciences. and business. and in my opinion. have made us a better nation. more understanding of the problems of the world. and have helped to bring us to the point where we are in a position of world leadership. and in a position to aid those less fortunate throughout the world. We have proven. I believe. that democracy in its fullest sense means that peope of all religions and racial backgrounds can live together in peace and amity and produce a force which is unbeatable. The bill under consideration which was vetoed. and rightly so. by the President would jeopardize our international relations. It would freeze into law many of the prejudices now contained in our immigration laws and the policies of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice. This legislation has been debated at a period when the world is most sensitive to the thinking of the people of the United States. I had hoped that during the past 5 years the new world position of the United States would induce it to take a more humane and democratic attitude toward immigration. The passing of the Displaced Persons Act in 1948 and of its amendments in 1950 contributed to this belief. Our country has offered a haven to nearly 350.000 displaced persons since the beginning of 1949. but now the bill under consideration which contains more inequities than any immigration bill ever passed by Congress. threatens to close our doors tighter than ever. The strongest criticism that can be leveled at this bill is its injustice to the peoples of southern and eastern Europe. Let us consider what this measure would mean to the people of Italy. It perpetrates against the Italians all the injustices originally included in the Quota Act of 1924 and the National Origins Formula adopted in 1929. really designed to bar people born in southern and eastern Europe. It is no secret that it was then the intention to keep people from southern and eastern Europe out of the stream of United States life due to the prejudices which existed against people from those areas. With regard to the Italians. for the period from 1900 to 1910. Italian immigration amounted to 2.045.877. oran average of over 200.000 a year. By the act of 1921 it was reduced to 42.000 a year. Under the national origins legislation it was further reduced to 5.800 a year.