Mr. Speaker. I and several of the Members of the House are today introducing a comprehensive revision of our immigration. naturalization. and refugee laws. For too long Americas immigration and naturalization laws have. sadly and unnecessarily. conflicted with our national ideals. American history is an impressive testament to the 40 million men. women. and children who. crossing the oceans in search of a better life. helped transform an empty continent into a powerful bastion of democracy and opportunity. All aspects of our national lifepolitics. religion. commerce. and the artshave been molded by this. the greatest folk migration in history. America has done much for the immigrant. the immigrant has done even more for America. Yet our immigration policies reflect both a xenophobia and an unnecessary rigidity which are neither sensible nor becoming. The trouble has little to do with the total volume of quota numbersthe volume of immigration into the United States. This is not the issue. The problem will not be solved by vast numbers of new admissions. But the problem has everything to do with basic concepts. As long as the quota system is based on national origins it will be a source of pain and of shame. And it takes on an element of the ridiculous when one considers how easily it can be corrected. As to the specific allocation of the quota between countries. the law does not make much sense.
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immigrant quota system immigration naturalization xenophobia refugee