Speech #860098008

You accept this sort of thing when you vote for this conference report. I wish time would permit to go into this matter more thoroughly. but I also want to call your attention to another new program. which is the very last item in the conference report. Some months ago the President of the United States proclaimed an International Refugee Year. beginning July 1. 1959. We are now 3 weeks in the International Refugee Year. and in this bill we are authorizing $10 million to support it in some way or other. Seemingly. there is no explanation as to how the $10 million is to be spent. but nevertheless it is provided in this bill. An announced candidate for the Presidency of the United States sponsored the amendment in the other body. and our conferees have accepted it. No explanation has been given to the House. and I certainly think we are entitled to have one. There are bills pending in both bodies of this Congress which. if passed. will circumvent our immigration laws. and the proclamation of the President for an International Refugee Year plus the $10 million provided in this bill for some vague purpose. will have the result of opening up our doors to people who can not otherwise gain entry into this country under present immigration laws. I know of no better way to weaken and wreck our immigration laws than to accept such a proposition. Mr. Speaker. the American Legion legislative bulletin dated July 13. 1959. presents a very excellent discussion on this subject. I subscribe wholeheartedly to the following. and I quote: The motivation behind the pleas and demands for the admission of more and more immigrants through changes in basic laws * * * or one after the other of the special laws that bring to this country hundreds of thousands of persons in addition to the regular flow of immigrationlike the Displaced Persons Act right after World War II. or the Refugee Act of more recent vintage. and many other public and private acts * * * is not too difficult to understand. We appreciate that many wellintentioned persons seek these changes out of the goodness in their heartsthrough a desire to aid humanity. But for the most part we think it is prompted by the personal desires of countless individuals who have emigrated in this country and who have now become so strong in politics that they are in positions to demand immigrationliberalizing legislation from their representatives in Congress as well as from most every other echelon of governmentfrom the Nations Capitol down through the State offices to the local wards. That is how we see it. The problem increases in size and scope. like a snowball rolling downhill.