President. I rise today to protest a new kind of gag rule. which is selfimposed but nonetheless very effective. This is the gag rule which prevents those who want to see a decent posture by our country 1958with respect to immigration from having a bill upon this very urgent subject considered this year. If we conclude with the bill now before usworthy as it is. I hasten to add--.it will represent our posture before the country and the world. I define gag rule in this respect as the injunction to all of us who are interested in immigration legislation that if we seek to amend any such bill as this to include changes in the basic immigration law. to include provisions for refugees and escapees. or to include provisions to relieve the dreadful strains even on fourth preferences under the quotas. in countries like Italy and Greece. such bills will not even be called up. and innocent people. like those in the Azores with whom we are dealing today. will suffer. because some of us feel that we wish to offer to the Senate the opportunity to vote upon some other aspect of the immigration policy of the United States. It should be an open secret that that is what took place with respect to this bill. The price of bringing it up and having it passed was that no effort would be made to offer amendments to it of the kind which I have described.
Keywords matched
immigration refugees