Speech #880079473

At the same time 265.000 Italians are on a waiting list for 5.666 quotas. Additionally. such populous countries as India and Indonesia. as well as most AfroAsian nations are given only 100 quotas per year. The existence of this quota system has caused untold damage to the prestige of the United States. It is an affront not only to the extremely important emerging nations of Africa and Asia. but also to some of our closest allies. such as Greece and Italy. These countries must consider our immigration laws as no less than an insult to their peoples and their nations. The principal feature of this bill is the elimination of the national origins quota system. This would be accomplished over a period of 5 years. by reducing existing national quotas at a rate of 20 percent yearly and placing these quotas in a quotareserve pool. Quotas which are currently unused will also go into this pool. The quotas in the pool will be made available to reduce the backlog of persons now on waiting lists for entry Into the United States. Persons from all countries will be admitted in the order of the dates of their applications. However. immigrants from any country. in any year. will be limited to 10 percent of the total number of quotas in the pool. Some persons would be adversely affected if. when their countrys quota is reduced. they were subsequently put at the end of the long waiting list. To compensate for this. the President would be authorized to reserve up to 50 percent of the quotas to persons disadvantaged in this manner. After the elimination of the backlog. a process which will take several years. immigrants would be admitted on a firstcome. firstserved basis. within preference categories similar to those in existence now. The total number admitted will be limited to about 164.000. and with any country limited to 10 percent of the total. Another important feature of this legislation is the complete elimination of the AsiaticPacific triangle regulations which discriminate severely against potential Asiatic immigrants. The bill would also give recently independent Western Hemisphere nations the same nonquota status as is now accorded to those states in the Americas which were independent when the McCarranWalter Act was passed. An Immigration Board. consisting of seven members appointed by the President would be established under the terms of the bill. This Board would conduct investigations and make recommendations to the President on overall immigration policies and the distribution of quotas. I feel that the Presidents proposals are well reasoned and that the solutions he has proposed represent a needed breakthrough in our immigration policy. I believe that the plan to at least temporarily limit the total number of aliens admitted is both wise and necessary. We must insure that we do not create further problems by stimulating a vast influx of persons who come here seeking a land of opportunity. only to find prospects for continued unemployment and life as a public charge. It is also in the interest of fairness that the administration proposal provides that any country will be limited to 10 percent of the total number of immigrants admitted each year. This serves to give all potential immigrants an equal opportunity to enter the country. While I would like to see the quota system wiped out immediately. I realize that such complex changes will take time to implement. and even the 5year time period may seem somewhat long. it is a necessary feature of the legislation. I hope that each Member of this House will carefully consider both the harm being done to our country by the McCarranWalter Act and the basic injustice of exclusion policies. and then lend his full support to this legislation.