Speech #830259258

I believe. further. that we have lost one round in the fight against Communism when we Indulge ourselves inordinately in the emotions of panic and fear. Let us look at the situation in Italy. As of July 16. 1954. 4.832 visas had been issued to Italians. How many had been refused on any grounds including security reasons? Only 438. And yet the professional purveyors of a particular brand of security would have us believe that it would be hard to find anyone in Italy or in all of Europe who is not really a subversive. While the passage of time has enormously diminished the moral and psychological impact which I had hoped this law would have. and while we can never undo the damage of a year of almost complete inaction. we can begin to correct the impression we have created abroad that we dont care about these people. My heart goes out to all those who could and should benefit from this program: to the relatives who cannot join their families in this country because the regular immigration quotas are oversubscribed. to the refugees who have been the victims of the very ideologies we are combatting today. I hope and pray that from here on in the law will be administered in the spirit which we intended when we voted for it last summer. Hon.