Speech #880222558

Adam. so that it could never be said that one man is better than another. Do we not all come from the same stem? Instead of apportioning our immigration quotas according to the national origins theory. national origins of an intending immigrant. under my bill our future total immigration quota will be divided. regardless of the immigrants place of birth. into categories completely divorced from the concept of race. nationality. citizenship. or place of birth. Inclusion of an intending immigrant into one of the categories will depend (I) on his skill. or ((ii) on his relationship to a citizen in the United States or of an immigrant previously admitted to our country. but (iii) a large portion of the annual immigration quota will always remain available for refugees and displaced persons in a spirit of mercy. in a spirit of humanity. And lastly. a category will be raised for socalled new seed immigration. immigration of people who in their own mind have formulated the desire to abandon their old country and seek new opportunities for themselves and their children in the United States. The process of elimination of the national origins principle will continue for 5 years after the enactment of the bill. The reason for this gradual approach is of a purely practical nature. It is there in my bill for administrative purposes only. Obviously the Kennedy and Johnson admiiistrations. as well as myself. would have preferred that the old condemned anachronistic system of national origins be wiped out immediately. However. we must be practical and recognize that such a drastic change. if imposed overnight. would simply create havoc with the administrative processes of immigration and immigrant visa issuance by our consulates spread all over the world. Thus it is proposed to cut 20 percent of our quota in each of the 5 years succeeding the enactment of my bill. and place that number of visas in a pool operated under the new system. At the termination of 5 years. the new system will be in full effect. and the administrators will all have gained the necessary experience obtained through the gradual use of the new system. It is important to keep in mind that under the new system the entire quota will be used. will actually be used. in every 12month period. We will not have then the unfortunate situation which faces us every year at the present time. I have in mind that situation where tens of thousands of immigrant visas allocated under existing quotas are not used by certain nations. by immigrants born in those certain countries. while immigrants born In other countries with small or simply token quotas have to experience waiting time extending in the case of many countries of southern and eastern Europe as well as Asia. for 5 years to almost 25 years. That is horrendous. and has got to stop. In all frankness I must tell you. gentlemen. that I do not want to sound here a note of undue optimism.