Speech #840060380

It is a committee to which any citizen. no matter how humble. or regardless of race. color. or creed. is entitled to petition. under the Constitution of this country. We have in this committee various subcommittees. One of these is the standing subcommittee on immigration. During the course of the year. some thousands of private immigration bills are introduced. The whole Judiciary Committee. acting through the Subcommittee on Immigration. which. during the years in which I was chairman thereof. passed upon thousands of private bills dealing with immigration and deportation. In the course of his duty. there was presented to Senator JOHNSTON. the case of Nicolo Impestato. Due to the fact that I had been chairman of this committee. Senator JOHNSTON brought this case to my attention. with the result that a private bill was introduced to stop the deportation of this man. I have never met Mr. Nicolo Impestato. nor his lawyer. nor any friend of his. and no one else has ever talked to me about this case except Senator JOHNSTON. Senator JOHNSTON stated to me at that time that he had not met him. but that the case had been brought to his attention by the assistant United States attorney who prosecuted Mr. Impestato. Now. as every Senator upon this floor knows. the Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate have made provision whereby any attempt to stop deportation of any individual is thoroughly and effectively screened. When a bill is introduced to stop deportation. the bill is introduced in either. the House of Representatives or in the Senate. and there it isreferred by the Presiding Officer. generally upon the advice of the Parliamentarian. to the Judiciary Committee. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee. through his staff. then refers it to the appropriate subcommittee. and all private immigration bills are referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration of the Judiciary Committee. This subcommittee. upon the application of any person. gives due notice to the Immigration Department. and to all others interested in a public hearing. Thereafter. the action of the subcommittee is referred to the full Committee of the Judiciary. where any one of the 15 Senators composing that committee is given every opportunity for debate and for bringing to the attention of the full committee any protests registered by anyone. including the Attorney General. any of his assistants. the Department of State. the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization. or any of his deputies. or anyone else. and the entire file of the person about to be deported is made available to the full committee of 15 Senators. At this hearing of the full committee. any Senator can ask for a yeaandnay vote. If a majority of the full committee vote against deportation. the bill will go to the floor of the Senate. where again there is opportunity for unlimited debate. Any one of the 96 Senators can present any arguments for or against the bill. Any Senator can produce any evidence. written or oral. against the passage of this bill that may have been brought to his attention.