Speech #860193001

Mr. Speaker. if anybody had any doubt as to when elections are going to take place. the Presidents immigration message certainly makes it clear that it is this year. We had an identical message from the President 4 years ago. and we are certainly going to have one like it 4 years hence. It is all a part of seeking political dividends by catering to groups representing special interests. If we were to consider the Presidents proposal seriously. we would find that its enactment would raise the present annual average of immigrants entering this country from 260.000 to 500.000. Simple arithmetic indicates that the doubling of the regular immigration quota coupled with the retention of immigration not subject to quota limitationsnatives of the Western Hemisphere and all spouses and children of U.S. citizens plus special classes such as clergymen and their immediate families. and so forthwill have precisely that effect. Our present annual immigration quota Is 154.000. but the actual number of immigrants who entered this country reached 2.499.268 in the last 10 years. instead of the theoretical figure of 1.540.000. The problem of whether the United States is capable of absorbing economically and assimilating socially twice the number of immigrants which we presently admit annually is a matter to be tackled by qualified economists and sociologists. rather than to be tossed about by the Republican political advisers of the President. Economists and not politicians must ascertain whether there are sufficient jobs. schoolrooms. hospital beds. and houses for the accommodation of the increased number of immigrants as proposed by the President. According to the Bureau of the Census. a new citizen of the United States is born every 71/2 seconds. a person dies in the United States every 20 seconds. and an immigrant enters this country every 90 seconds. The effect of these three officially established facts is the net increase of our population by 2.890.800 annually. all of whom must be absorbed by the United States. I wish to add one more thought. The sound and timetested basic tenets of our immigration policy and the laws implementing it. have permitted this country to accept. whenever the international situation called for it. a sizable number of homeless refugees and victims of political persecution. Since the end of World War II. pursuant to this policy. the United States has led the whole world in admitting well over 1 million displaced persons and refugees. At the present time. my subcommittee is actively considering legislation under which an additional number of people in need of resettlement opportunities would be offered new homes and a new start in life in the United States. The Presidents proposal. providing for a permanent automatic increase of the size of our annual immigration intake. will. of course. preclude the passage of legislation needed in emergent situations. We must not sacrifice the welfare of the Nation in general to the dictates of election year politics. there is too much at stake.