Speech #860267354

But. I would remind Senators that even through the Iron Curtain a contrast between words and deeds can penetrate. Even through that barrier of secrecy and censorship and because of the possibilities for exploitation by the Communist propaganda machine of the fact that we Americans speak so strongly and eloquently of our sympathy for the oppressed can be unhappily contrasted with any hesitations in our willingness to accept into our Nation as our fellow citizensthe worlds refugees. I am convinced that any American who stopped for a moment to examine his belief in democratic society would reject the notion that our American responsibility for maintenance of freedom is a question of a percentage of what the rest of the world does. Even if every other nation in this world refused or were unable to come to freedoms defenseAmericas responsibility to act would remain. Mr. President. besides my objections to the "proportional responsibility" idea of this proposal and the fact that actually only a handful of the 32.500 refugeesdesiring to immigrate from Western Europewill ever be admitted under this measure. I have a further objection in terms of our overall foreign policy. The joint resolution would authorize the admission only of those refugees under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Now I am sure that one argument advanced for this is that we do have a particular responsibility for those remaining European refugees who are still suffering from the aftermath of World War II. I fully agree that this is a special item of unfinished business for the free world. I agree that it should be given priority. But it should not be our exclusive concernparticularly where such exclusiveness will undoubtedly be interpreted as another form of exclusivenessracial prejudiceby the peoples of the nonwhite world. Mr. President. at least 1 million refugees from the brutal communes of Red China are now in Hong Kong. They are not within the mandate of the U.N. High Commissioner by an accident of timing and the intricate power relationships of world politics. But they are no less a part of the worlds responsibility to any human being who is suffering and in need. They are no less a symbol of freedom than the courageous Freedom Fighters of Hungary. The present proposal does not even recognize the existence of Chinese refugees in Hong Kong. Nor does the present proposal recognize the existence of the Tibetan refugees who sought haven in India from the ruthless repression and denial of their religious liberty by Red China. Mr. President. only because I do not wish to sacrifice at least a limited recognition that we in America are brothers of all who choose and love freedom and because I do not wish to jeopardize a program such as the orphan adoption program to be continued under H.J.