Speech #840051764

Mr. Speaker. as I listened to the reading of the Presidents message. I wondered whether or not his information is current. and I ask that question for this reason: I just recently returned from Germany where I went to the trouble of spending days in the centers in which these socalled refugees came and were screened. and I did not find a single refugee who could convince anyone that he fled because of fear of persecution. seeking economic bettermentyes. that is the reason. Now. of course. this refugee admission program Is not succeeding. The President ascribes that to several things. one of which Is that there is prosperity in Europe. Well. of course there is. and the reason why these socalled refugees in Germany are not applying for permission to come to the United States is because they love their homelands. they do not want to leave Western Germany where they now have employment and they hope to return home eventually. Why. the fact of the mater isand anybody can ascertain this by picking up the telephone and calling the visa office of the State Departmentthat the German immigration quota is current. That means that any person who wishes to emigrate to the United States from Germany and who was born in Germanyand it makes no difference what part of Germany. whether behind the Iron Curtain. socalled. or notis eligible for admission under the German immigration quota. which is now current. Anybody born in Germany. including the socalled refugees from Eastern Germany that wants to come to the United States need but go to the American consuls office and apply for a visa. Within a short time he will get it. unless he is a felon or a Communist. Now. I am Just the least bit disturbed by the efforts that are being made in some quarters to discredit the basic immigration law of the United States. It is not inhuman. as has been charged. it is not unfair. as has been charged. but it is in the best interests of the United States. I would like to just point up some of these things as they were just read. One of the very first proposals would lift the ban against refugees afflicted with tuberculosis. I do not know whether you are willing to do that. I am not. and I do not know of anybody on the Committee on the Judiciaryoh. there may be an exceptin or twowho is willing to waive the health requirements of the basic immigration law of the land without safeguards that will effectively protect our own people. The second proposal Is to transfer unused portions of the visa allocations from one category to another. Take the orphans. for example. says the President. Of course. that will have an appeal in certain sections of our citizenrythese poor little orphans.