Our example has been and continues to be an inspiration for countless millions. including millions who have left their homelands to make new lives in the United States. In the marketplace of ideas. our stock is at the top. The stream of refugees flows from East to West and not the other way. The message of America. fashioned in actual deeds. is heard clearly above the strident tumult of Communist propaganda. The oppressed people of the earth look to the Statue of Liberty. not the Tomb of Lenin. for their salvation. It is essential that we keep this dream alive and that the message of America remain meaningful. If we fail to do this. the very reason for our existence will wither away. like a tree whose roots have been severed. My remarks today are addressed to our immigration policies. which are in need of major overhaul to fit new conditions. It is in these policies that we speak our minds most clearly on our regard for our fellow men. To correct existing inequities I urge an end to the national origin quota system and a permanent policy toward the world refugee problem. These are not thoughts that are new with me. My speech today is an urgent call for action on existing proposals. Both parties pledged action in their 1960 platforms. which remain in force. The President has spoken clearly in favor of these revisions at the time he was seeking the votes that placed him in office. The Democratic platform states: The national origins quota system of limiting immigration contradicts the founding principles of this Nation. It assures us in addition: A Democratic President in cooperation with a Democratic Congress will again implant a humanitarian and liberal spirit in our Nations immigration and citizenship policies. We have a Democratic President and an overwhelmingly Democratic Congress. Mr.
Keywords matched
national origins quota immigration refugees refugee national origin quota