Speech #840233346

When the displaced persons program was launched in 1948. there was no staff. The displaced persons program was organized as an independent governmental agency. faced with the vast problem of creating a completely new organization. But with all these handicaps. and with a law which in many aspects was even more unworkable than the present refugee law. the record of the displaced persons program in bringing refugees to our country is so far superior to that under the refugee relief program and it defies comparison. The Displaced Persons Commission worked out many of the techniques which have been followed by the Administrator under the present act. The Refugee Relief Administrator has belatedly followed the precedent established in the displaced persons program of stimulating the organization of State commissions to aid in the resettlement of the newly arrived immigrants. Under the displaced persons program there were 36 such State commissions. I would point out that these commissions were started 1 week after the displaced persons program got under way One year went by after the passage of the Refugee Relief Act before President Eisenhower wrote to the governors of the States requesting similar commissions to be created. Under the displaced persons program 4.182 orphans were brought to the United States. The Displaced Persons Commission pioneered in working out arrangements with welfare agencies in the United States and with the various European governments to expedite and safeguard the adoption of these orphans. It is my information that the experience of the Displaced Persons Commission in this field has greatly aided the orphan program under the Refugee Relief Act. Finally. Mr. Chairman. for the record. I would like to correct a serious error which has cropped up at various times in discussions of the comparison between the displaced persons program and the refugee program. This error relates to the thoroughness of the security checks utilized by the Displaced Persons Commission. Individuals under the displaced persons program were checked by the following governmental security agenciesthe FBI. the CIA. the CIC. the CID. the Provost Marshalls office of the Army. the DP investigative staff. the Consuls investigative staff. and the investigative staff of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Certainly the security program under the Refugee Relief Act could hardly be more thorough. In light of these facts it is appalling to me that in terms of comparative length of operations under the displaced persons program and the Refugee Relief Act. 152.528 visas were issued under the displaced persons program after 20 months of operation while over a similar period. only 34.810 visas have been issued under the Refugee Relief Act. Mr. Chairman.