Speech #860093662

in testimony presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee. has stated that. in addition to approving a special refugee program. the most appropriate thing the Congress could do during World Refugee Year Is to liberalize and humanize our basic immigration policies. It was recommended that our national quota be increased from 155.000 to 250.000. and that the national origins quota system be abolished. These basic immigration policies. contained In the WalterMcCarran Act. reflect neither the humanitarian. compassionate. democratic convictions of most of America nor the actual immigration practices of the United States in the years since the act was passed. As a consequence. it has been necessary to pass special legislation on numerous occasions. There has been perhaps too much heat. and not enough light. in the public debate over the WalterMcCarran Act. If it is true that the act reflects discrited notions of racial superiority. as I believe it does. it does not follow that its authors or its supporters are "bigots" or "racists." And. on the other hand. if it is true that the acts critics desire to change the law in order to allow more people. with less difficulty. to get to the United States. as I do desire. it is not true that we advocate unlimited numbers of immigrants or that we dont care whether subversives or criminal elements come in. In advocating a more liberal immigration policy. organized labor is fully conscious of its responsibility to Its members. An immigrant might every now and then actually deprive an American of a job. But it must not be forgotten that many jobs are created by the influx of immigrants. Many immigrants have proved to be creative. imaginative Industrialists who have built great businesses. Every Immigrant. moreover. is a customer for the goods and services which all Americans produce. Our history shows that the great waves of immigration to this country were followed by great gains in our national prosperity. It is to be hoped that before World Refugee Year ends. our statute books will contain a basic immigration law that will truly reflect the humanitarianism and liberalism of the American tradition.