Speech #830270746

If the gentleman will yield further. I should like to call the .gentlemans attention to the fact that there will be an amendment offered to this bill which will affect. among others. the wives of many servicemen who are excludable now because of the commission of minor offenses. This bill is the only vehicle available for the committee to bring about a modification of section 212 (a) (9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. So that if there is an objection. it will mean not only that the .sheep and wool industry will be affected. but many alien wives of American soldiers will not be permitted to come to the United States with their American babies. Right now we have before us 22 private bills for the relief of such persons and there is no time to act on them. I want to make it perfectly clear that the amendment I intend to offer would apply not only to the beneficiaries of S. 2862. but to any alien who may be excludable under section 212 (a) (9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. In enacting that section. the Congress drew a distinction between the youthful offender guilty of the commission of one crime only. and the alien whose transgression occurred after he had reached 18 years of age. Since the enactment of that provision. however. it has become apparent to the Committee on the Judiciary that American consular officers are excluding entirely too many aliens on very technical grounds. Case after case has been brought before us under private legislation. in which visas are being denied to persons who committed such petty crimes as theft of a loaf of bread during the famine days of 1946 in Germany. or for failure to return a ration card when required to do so in England. or for killing and roasting a duck while on an outing. and so forth. The purpose of my amendment is to modify. or rather clarify. the purport of paragraph (9). subsection (a) of section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. so as to bring it in conformity with section 1 of title 18. United States Code. as enacted into positive law on June 25. 1948. In other words. I want to make certain that section 212 (a) (9) of the Immigration and Nationality Act will be administered in accordance with American legal standards as set out in title 18 of United States Code. which classifies offenses and draws a very clear line between a felony. a misdemeanor. and a minor offense. I hope that the other body will go along with my amendment and that upon the enactment of this bill. the Department of State will expeditiously proceed with the promulgation of necessary regulations and instructions. so that when the Congress convenes in January. the hundreds of private bills designed to waive misdemeanors committed abroad by aliens who intend to come to the United States will not be introduced again to plague our committee and to take up so much of the time of the House and Senate.