Speech #870292450

Mr. President. during these waning days of the 87th Congress. I am disappointed to see that no action will be taken at this session on a comprehensive revision of our immigration laws. I think it unfortunate that many of us will have to return to our home States. this fall. and report that Congress has failed to act in this important area. This report will be deeply disappointing to many American citizens who have been anxiously waiting to be reunited with their families and relatives. It also leave a shameful blemish on the record of the administration. which in its 1960 campaign platform. advocated extensive reform of our immigration statutes. The enactment of the McCarranWalter Immigration Act. 10 years ago. represented a step forward in our immigration policy. However. the act contained certain inequities. and little meaningful action has been taken by Congress to correct them. All that has been added is a limited patchwork of minor modifications and the periodic enactment of the special. shortterm immigration and refugee legislation that has been required. Although Congress did pass a somewhat restricted immigration measure last session. the Allen Orphan Act. it did not correct the basic faults in our immigration laws: our outmoded quota system and the failure to come to grips with the refugee and escapee problem. I cosponsored S. 551 and S. 552. last sesssion. which would remedy these shortcomings. but no action has been initiated on these bills. One of the underlying principles of our immigration policy is the preservation of the family unit. S. 551 would give meaning and reality to that concept. and would revamp and liberalize our immigration laws in four key areas. First. It would base our immigration quotas on the 1960. rather than the 1920 census. thus reflecting the current pattern of the national origins of Americans. rather than the outmoded pattern of over 40 years ago. It would also provide for an increase in the annual immigration quota. According to the 1960 census figures. one of every five residents of the United States is either foreignborn or nativeborn of mixed foreign and native parentage. More than 34 million persons are included in the Census Bureaus "foreign stock" categorynearly 10 million of them foreign born. and more than 24 million native born. but with at least one parent born abroad. Many of these American citizens still have relatives whom they are anxious to have join them in the United States. Use of the 1920 census. rather than the 1960 census. as the basis for determining national quotas adds to the dificulty of many of these people in getting their relatives on a quota list. Establishing the 1960 census as the foundation for our immigration quotas is an important first step in formulating a more realistic immigration policy. Second. S. 551 would permit the carryover of unused quotas from one year to another. in proportions determined by the President.