Speech #850077651

Mr. President. this large and rich country can well afford to absorb additional thousands of the unfortunate inhabitants of these Hungarian refugee camps in Austria. I know that there are people who think that our country has accepted such vast numbers of immigrants that they threaten the jobs of present Americans. This is a natural enough reaction. for example. from people in my own State. who are suffering the effects of economic recession and actual unemployment as a result of this administrations economic policies. Yet seen in perspective. such fears are unrealistic. Our national economy. based on massproduction and steadily rising standards of living. has benefited from our constantly expanding population. In the past decade. from January 1. 1947. to December 31. 1956. about 2.275.000 immigrants were admitted into the United States. But in the same decade. our population went from 144 million to 170 million. a gain of more than 25 million new Americans. Obviously. as far as the economic effects of such a vast population increase are concerned. immigration is a drop in the bucket. At the same time. our tradition of hospitality to refugees has throughout the whole history of our country been one of the best known and brightest symbols of America abroad. More than ever. we need to maintain this symbol bright and clear in the minds of men everywhere in the world today. In conclusion.