Speech #860157135

Without his genius. the tremendous achievements in the physical sciences and in the exploration of space may in all likelihood not have occurred in our lifetimes. Albert Einstein published his Theory of Special Relativity as far back as 1905. Albert Einstein was an immigrant to the United States. a refugee who fled Nazi persecution. A winner of the Nobel Prize in 1921. he became a special target of the Nazis. He fled finally in 1933 and came to Princeton. N.J.. where the university made it possible for him to continue his work. Had he not been a man of exceptional distinction. our present immigration laws might very well have kept him out of our country. to the very great detriment of world progress. In this connection I should like to point out urgent need of amendments to the Immigration and Naturalization Act which would seek to modernize and correct many weaknesses in our present immigration procedures. and include the admission into the United States of a fair share of the Iron Curtain refugees. Our country was extremely fortunate in being able to provide a home and an atmosphere in which a man like Albert Einstein could continue his incomparable work. His name will be an inspiration in science to the present and future generations of young scientists as well as to the youth of our country. who have not been privileged to know him.