Speech #840011569

Mr. Speaker. there is unquestionably widespread dissatisfaction and no small degree of disappointment concerning the operation of the refugee relief program. Enacted just about 18 months agoAugust 7. 1953. to be exactthis law authorized the admission of 214.000 aliens to become permanent residents of the United States by the end of 1956. with preference being given to refugees. expellees. escapees from Iron Curtain countries. and certain close relatives of American citizens. After 18 months. what are the results? Mr. Speaker. I regret to say that the results to date of this refugee relief program are very meager. indeed. Here are the latest available official figures: Number of visas issued. 18.936as of Number of refugees admitted. 15.034as of January 28. 1955. Such is the dismal result of this program after about half of its effective period has elapsed. It is clear by now that the goal of 214.000 refugees to be admitted will never be reached in the time specified. While I dislike to speculate on the number finally to gain entry under this program. it does not seem to me that we will even fulfill half the program by the time it expires. Such was not the intention of Congress when it enacted the refugee relief program in 1953. When Congress set a figure of 214.000 to be admitted over a 3year period. it was done so in the belief that this goal could be reached. Unfortunately. certain sections of the act and administrative interpretations have made the law unworkable and the whole program has become a travesty. Mr. Speaker. I do not see eye to eye with Judge FRANCIS WALTER. the distinguished gentleman from Pennsylvania. on matters of immigration. Yet even Judge WALTER. who is opposed to liberalized immigration. recently stated in a public address: I consider the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 a fraud and a phony. He also referred to it as an example of sloppy legislation. an illconceived and halfbaked proposal. and an unworkable law. And he is so right about it. There is also tremendous dissatisfaction among church groups and voluntary agencies which are active in obtaining housing and employment assurances for the aliens and helping them to meet other requirements of the law. In fact. some of them are considering giving up their programs because of the great difficulties involved. On January 30. 1955. the Washington Post and Times Herald -published an Associated Press report from New York which stated that CI127 church agencies were on the verge of junking huge programs for bringing refugees to this country because they could not get them through the redtape. The report then added: So far. church officials said. the requirements for admission of refugees have been so complicated that only a mere trickle have gotten through the maze of checks and doublechecks. By way of example. the report cited the meager accomplishments of these church groups due to the complications of the act: Up to the end of 1954. Church World Service had 115 refugee arrivals. The Roman Catholic War Relief Service reported 147. the Jewish United Hias Service about 50. and the Lutheran Service 9. This would be less than 500 refugees brought here in the acts first 18 months. In comparison. under the old Displaced Persons Act whose terms were less restrictive. 114.494 DPs were resettled in the first 18 months. Mr. Speaker. the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 needs to be amended drastically. and it needs to be done as soon as possible while there is still sufficient time to complete the program sucessfully. Each month. each week that we wait will mean the loss of thousands of visas going to waste when the program ends in Consequently. I am now introducing a bill containing five important amendments to the act which. I feel certain. will speed up the flow of refugees in the short time that is left and will make possible the successful completion of this program. The five changes recommended in my bill are the following: First. Age limit for admittance of orphans: Under the Refugee Relief Act of 1953 a total of 4.000 orphans are permitted to enter the country as nonquota immigrants. but they must be under 10 years of age. Because of the age limitation and other difficulties. less than 500 orphans have gained admittance to date. I. therefore. propose to raise the age limitation to 14 years. This should make possible the successful completion of this part of the program. Second. Elimination of employment and housing assurances: It is generally admitted by all concerned. including State Department and immigration officials. that the greatest factor in delaying the flow of immigrants under the refugee relief program is the requirement that certain assurances must be submitted in behalf of an alien before he is granted a visa. Section 7 (a) of the Refugee Relief Act provides that three assurances must be given by an American citizen on behalf of the alien seeking a visa: (a) That the alien will have suitable employment without displacing some other person from employment. (b) That the alien will have housing without displacing some other person from such housing. and (c) That the alien will not become a public charge. I propose to eliminate the employment and housing assurances and to leave only the requirement that the alien is not to become a public charge. The housing shortage has eased up considerably in the country and is no longer as acute as a few years ago. Employment. too. is holding up in recent months and the general economic situation does not appear to be threatening. There is no need to retain these requirements in the law. By eliminating them it will be possible to increase greatly the entry of immigrants under the refugee program. Third. Elimination of readmission guaranties: Another factor contributing to the slowness of the refugeerelief program is the requirement that an alien must present an unexpired passport or other suitable travel document and a certificate of readmission from the country where he obtained the visa guaranteeing he will be readmitted to that country in the event he is later found to be deportable from the United States. This has been a real bone of contention and aroused much dissatisfaction and protests from a number of European countries. I propose that this section be eliminated from the act. Fourth. Refugee relief commission: Under the present act. the refugeerelief program is administered by the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs of the Department of State. There has been considerable criticism of the Administrator of this Bureau. Mr. Scott McLeod. for the manner in which he is administering the whole program. his rigid interpretations of the act. and his general approach to the problem. I propose to take this program out of the Department of State and set it up as a separate and independent Government agency to be known as the Refugee Relief Commission. The commission is to consist of three members. appointed by the President. each of whom shall receive a salary of $17.500 annually. The commission shall formulate regulations in compliance with the Refugee Relief Act. and it shall report annually to the President and to Congress on the operations of the program. This commission and its operations would be similar to that of the Displaced Persons Commission which administered the Displaced Persons Act of 1948 with such success. Fifth. Termination of the act: The termination date of the refugeerelief program has been set for December 31. 1956. after which no visas are to be issued under this program. In view of the small number of visas issued under the act to date and the fact that nearly half of the time has already expired. it is generally conceded that the programs goal of 214.000 immigrants. as envisioned by Congress originally. will not be reached by the end of 1956. Therefore. I propose that all visas authorized under the Refugee Relief Act which remain unissued after December 31. 1956. shall be redistributed proportionately among the countries and categories established in the act. and that these visas be issued only to relatives of American citizens. I further propose that the time be extended for the issuance of the unused visas for a period of 1 year until December 31. 1957. My purpose for extending the termination date is twofold: First. so that more time is allotted for the unification of families: second. so that as many of the unused visas be utilized in the extra time allotted. The unification of families has always been a traditional and humane principle with the American people. The extra time allotted is to make up for the slow start of the program in setting up its administrative machinery. which is another factor in the delay of entries until now.