Speech #870170368

The medical requirements. in any case. for reuniting families. would be eased. I do not believe that the justice and humanity of such provisions need any explanation. This bill would also provide that an immigration officer could not question the quota status of an immigrants visa. although. of course. the Attorney General would retain the power to deport a person admitted for permanent residence if it were proved at a later date that he or she had made fraudulent application to the consul who issued a visa for permanent residence. That portion of a countrys annual quota not needed for reuniting of famflies would be allocated for "pioneer" immigrants. When considering immigration legislation. we must not lose sight of the need for "pioneer" immigrants who. like their forebears in the past. brought fresh vitality to our national cultural. economic. and political life. We need this new blood today just as much or more than we did in the past. Because I believe strongly that spirited pioneer immigrants have a great contribution to make. this bill proposes medical standards designed to insure that our pioneer immigrants will be vigorous people in excellent health. This bill also contains provisions for arranging for pioneer immigrants to spend their first 2 years in the United States in an area where they can be best integrated into the economic and cultural life of our country. Without regard to the total national quota allotment of 200.000 visas. another 10.000 visas would be earmarked for people with skills which we desper ately require. I do not need to dwell on the need of our country for certain skills. A further 40.000 visas would be earmarked for refugees from tyranny. Although America has provided generous financial assistance to these refugees. we have not taken within our borders our fair share of those who have often sacrificed all to live in freedom. Actually. the last set of statistics which I have seen showed that our country ranked 13 in the world when it comes to taking in refugees as measured on the basis of relative population and still further down the scale when measured on the basis of relative wealth. There has been a great deal of talk about taking the initiative in the cold war. By resettling our fair share of refugees. we would give new hope to those who bear this tragic title and strike a new blow for freedom. No amount of Communist doubletalk can cover up the devastating fact that the people of the socalled peoples democracies. are continuously fleeing and voting with their feet against their rulers. The proof of this is demonstrated by the detestable wall in Berlin and the cruel Iron Curtain which stretches across Europe.