President. I had occasion. when the bill was before the Senate. to invite the attention of the Senate to the fact that it represented a preferential treatment for some people who were going to be admitted from the Azores. We have now added to that some people who are refugees from what were the Dutch East Indies. Each of these objectives is desirable. At the same time. as I stated to the Senate at the time. one is informed that any effort to deal with general immigration problems by using the vehicle which is provided by the bill or by the conference report will result in killing the measure. which is desirable on its own. No person like myself. who is interested in the deep problems of people. is going to take that chance. I know it is not an Idle threat. I am sure the result would actually occur. So I did not seek to make the bill or to make the conference report a vehicle for far more inclusive immigration action. At the same time. It should be made clear that far more inclusive immigration action in the interest of the United States is urgently required. Therefore. when the Senator from Mississippi was gracious enough to tell me he was going to bring the matter up. I arranged to ask him some questions as to what we might expect in January of next year in respect of an opportunity to get some immigration legislation which is urgently required by the national interest. I should like to propound these questions. The first matter to which I think we must direct our attention in all fairness is the situation of 200.000 refugees from behind the iron curtain who are nonresettled in Europe. who are the subject of a most comprehensive report issued by the Zellerbach Commission on the European refugee situation. sponsored by the International Rescue Committee.
Keywords matched
immigration refugee refugees