Speech #880197577

It has the jurisdiction. It has the necessary power of uninhibited inquiry and it has the will and determination to meet the challenge. Beyond those rumors. people have come to my office requesting the opportunity to testify under oath before the joint committee concerning exorbitant payments extracted in immigration matters. Several cases involve the payment of extortion to Communist regimes through cutouts residing in the free world. Since the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality law in 1952 there have been 10 special immigration laws enacted. Each of these laws were passed to meet some international emergency or to remedy some human problems growing out of the demands of these unsettled times. As a consequence of these enactments our immigration laws today are a complicated hodgepodge. with policy considerations as obscure as a needle in a haystick. To bring some order and equity into our immigration program. a clearly defined policy is a matter of first and urgent business of the Congress. In addition. a series of advisory opinions and administrative determinations by agencies of the Government have occurred since 1953 which have had the practical effect of legislatingan authority which is the exclusive domain of Congress. This trend has cast the shadows of confusion and uncertainty over our immigration policy. As matters now stand it is impossible for anyone to define with clarity and accuracy what our immigration policy really is. Various claims and charges are made. for or against what is alleged to be our immigration policy.. There are as many opinions about what our policy is as there are varying schools of thought as to what It should be. Contrary to widely shared beliefs. the basic feature of our immigration lawsthe quota system based on national origincontrols only 33 percent or onethird of immigrants entering our country. Immigrants outside the quota system. under the basic code and special enactments since 1953. represent 67 percent or twothirds of the immigrants who enter our country each year. Nevertheless. many Members of Congress receive regular appeals from their constituents requesting assistance in uniting families separated by war. disaster. and misfortune. Our Nation is built upon the integrity of the family. Our sense of human concern and justice has always moved us to protect and preserve the family as the basic unit of our society. Something is wrong with our immigration program when. we are not able to maintain that principle as the policy foundation of our program. Blame for this condition cannot be placed alone upon the quota system because the blame rests elsewhere. It rests with the lack of a clearcut immigration policy which would look after the family needs of citizens and legal residents of the United States as a first and overriding priority. Since enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1952 approximately 2.9 million immigrants have entered the United States. Only 1 million of these immigrants entered under the established quota system. These figures provide adequate proof of the need for Congress to assess what Is purported to be our immigration policy. We are not short of numbers admitted annually. but we are certainly falling far short of making our immigration program serve the priority needs of our people. There has not been a thorough. orderly. and dispassionate review of immigration policy in over 40 years. This fact was recognized in 1952 when Congress authorized the establishment of the joint committee and assigned to it the responsibility for conducting such a review. Much has changed during the past 40 years. at home and in the world around us. bearing upon a sound immigration policy which will serve the best interests of the United States and all our people. I am convinced it is time Congress took a good look at all these factors and weighed them on the scales of national interest. I believe Congress should be motivated by the facts in making a determination on any issue and I am confident Congress will act intelligently and wisely on immigration policy once the facts are clearly established. Three questions raised in the report accompanying the bill call for answers from me. First.