Speech #840193332

But that is exactly what was done by Public Law 203. I was chairman of the Judiciary Committee at that time. and I assure the Senate that we could not get a more liberal bill reported favorably. Many times we were in executive session at midnight in an effort to report any sort of refugee bill. So. Mr. President. we start with the premise that Public Law 203 is a very difficult piece of refugee legislation. which under its provisions. the Department of State is charged with administering. The Department of State. in turn. had its problems. not the least of which was having to start from scratch. The American consular offices overseas were entirely unable to cope with the handling of large numbers of visa applications. The Department had to employ and train new personnel. engage office space in the various capitols of the world. and at the same time struggle to keep its budget within reasonable limits. It is now admitted by everybody working with this act. the Department of State officials included. that the refugee relief program was at least a year and a half late in getting under way and it is my considered opinion that such delay was due to inexperience and perhaps in some instances. bad judgment. but I have found no evidence to support the charge that such delay was deliberate or intentional. So much for the background. Now let us see what has transpired since the operation of the act has at long last gotten going. Among other things. Public Law 203 provides that visas may be issued to 209.000 immigrants who meet the very strict definition of "refugee." "escapee." and "expellee." Also they must meet other rigid requirements. The cutoff date of the act is December 31. 1956. Mr. President. the Department of State publishes weekly statistical reports. showing the number of visas issued as of a given date. Early in 1955. it became apparent that little more than half the 209.000 visas would be issued before the expiration date. although many times this number of refugees. escapees. and expellees had been sitting in camps for more than 5 years and were registered with American consuls all over the world. President Eisenhower took cognizance of this situation. and on May 27. 1955. sent a message to Congress setting forth a number of ways in which he believed the act should be liberalized. if it was to accomplish the purpose for which it was intended. Thereupon. a number of bills were introduced in the Senate embodying the suggested changes. The subcommittee went into action. hearings were held. and reports written. but up to the present time we have not been successful in having any of these bills reported favorably by the subcommittee. Again. it is not due to the lack of effort. President Eisenhower considered the refugee problem of sufficient importance to mention it again in his state of the Union message to Congress in January of this year. What more could any President do? Mr.