Speech #850138993

It provides for the entry of certain skilled specialists and grants permanent residence annually to some 50 foreign diplomats who break with their government. The measure also allows the discretionary waiver of the fingerprinting requirement which has proven so obnoxious to many visitors to our shores. One of the most important provisions of this bill is one that I have urged for a long timethat is. the reuniting of families tragically separated by the end of the Refugee Relief Act or the filling of quotas. or both. Under terms of this section. many families who sent their breadwinner on ahead to America. fully expecting to follow soon. will be relieved of the needless suffering and heartache of prolonged separation. Their speedy reunion will represent a victory for the American tradition of living up to its promises. whether implied or direct. Especially worthy of note in this measure is the provision made for the use of leftover visas from the Refugee Relief Act. Under terms of this bill. they can be distributed not only among some of the classes of aliens listed in that law. which has now expired. of course. but also among aliens who have fled from Communist persecution or from cruel tyranny in Nassers Egypt. and who cannot return because of fear of further persecution on account of race. religion. or political origin. About 14.500 visas will be made available to such escapees under this provision. and the recipients will include those noble and courageous Hungarian antiCommunists now tragically stranded in European camps. and those Jews and Christians viciously stripped of their property and ruthlessly exiled from Egypt. who now wander aimlessly the map of the Middle East and Europe. While this provision will enable the use of only a limited number of visas for those worthy people. it is a step in the right direction. and. with wise and fair administration. it can serve to great advantage in our coldwar struggle with our Communist foes. It will demonstrate to the world that we intend to participate fully and with confidence in further humanitarian moves to help those escaping from tyranny. Enactment of this portion of S. 2792. coupled with the future enactment of the provisions for relief of escapees which are contained in the measure recommended by the administration. will encourage other groups to rise up against their tyrannical masters. confident that a lasting haven awaits them in America. Another provision in this bill. which was also contained in H. R. 4205. the bill I sponsored to carry out the Presidents recommendations. will eliminate the onerous mortgages which have built up on some quotas. These mortgages. piled up under the Displaced Persons Acts. have served to dim the hopes of many a fine immigrant from smallquota countries. By elimination of these accruals. there will be made available. on a worldwide basis. about 8.000 additional visas. Though this is a small number. its importance in terms of the normal reputation of the United States is tremendous. It is high time that Congress did away with an unrealistic system which has resulted in filling the quotas of some countries for as much as hundreds of years into the future.