Speech #880047024

It was "TAD" WALTER who conceived and put through the Congress the Displaced Persons Act. the first legislation which opened our doors to 420.000 displaced persons who had been driven out of their homes by World War II. It was "TAD" WALTER who first offered legislation setting up the intergovernmental Committee for European Migration. which helped millions of war victims to find new homes all over the world. As the coauthor of the WalterMcCarran Act. he led the way to this Nation having a more liberal immigration policy. Visiting the Hungarian border at the time of their bloody uprising. he saw refugees shot to death before his eyes. He responded with legislation to admit thousands of these terrified refugees to permanent homes in this country. I wish I knew how many thousand private immigration bills this good man has helped to become law. providing entry into this country of individuals from all over the earth. I doubt that any man in this Congress. or in any other Congress. has ever personally touched with a helping hand more individual human lives. There is an old saying that to have friends you must be a friend. The fact that "TAD" WALTER is almost universally popular in this House and that he remains popular even with those who seldom agree with him politically is proof enough that "TAD" WALTER has truly been a friend to all his colleagues. I suspect there are few Members of this House to whom "TAD" WALTER has not extended a helping hand on immigration bills. on patronage matters. in campaigns for reelection. and in countless personal cases. Firm and determined in what he believes Is right. "TAD" WALTER has always given his colleagues full right to disagree with him. without straining personal friendship. I well remember the magnificent skill and impartiality with which he presided over the heated debate on the last civil rights bill and I can remember as if it were yesterday that when he completed his duties as Chairman of the Committee of the Whole. the House broke into a thunderous ovation in which both the opponents and proponents of the legislation joined with great enthusiasm and admiration.