Speech #880272788

The Board is also required to submit detailed reports to Congress. covering each of the 2 years and a final report of operations under the authorizations provided for in the bill. Through this system I have provided what I believe to be a reasonable solution to a very difficult question which has arisen during the hearings on H.R. 7700. That question involves the constitutional responsibility laid upon Congress to regulate immigration into the United States. an unchallenged responsibility affirmed by the Supreme Court. and the call of H.R. 7700 to delegate those responsibilities to the executive branch of our Government. The provisions of my bill do not delegate the powers of Congress to the executive branch of our Government in any instance. What it does. in fact. is to establish exacting criteria for allocation of unused quota numbers and calls upon the executive branch. through the Selective Immigration Board. to recommend to Congress how those quota numbers should be distributed within the preferences set by Congress. Congress retains its final authority on the use of such unused quotas through the statutory power to reject such recommendations made by the Board. The Secretary of State is required to certify to the Selective Immigration Board the number of authorized but unused quota numbers for the fiscal years ending June 30. 1964. and June 30. 1965. The Board in turn is governed by those figures certified by the Secretary of State during the 2year trial period ending June 30. 1967. The board is not required by law to reallocate all of the unused quota numbers during the 2year trial period. It is required to exercise its judgment in the use of those unused quota numbers in resolving the three major problems involved in our immigration program. subject of course to final approval by Congress. The Board is also required to consult with the Secretary of State. the Attorney General. the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor before formulating the plans for submission to Congress. This should insure that all the vital and emergent problems of the various Departments of Government are considered in formulation of the Boards plan for allocation of the unused quota numbers. That in susbtance is what the bill I have introduced will authorize and should accomplish. Now for the things the bill will not do. First. it will not raise the present ceiling as set by law on quota immigrants. Second. it will not replace the national origins quota system which continues without interruption during the 2year trial period. Third. it will not alter the eligibility or admissibility requirements of the present law which govern all immigrant admission including those safeguards on security. health. moral turpitude and character of the applicants. Fourth. it will not call for any reorganization of the Immigration and Naturalization Service or the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs of the Department of State. both organs of Government retaining their full authority and responsibility under existing law. Fifth. it will not serve as an invitation to build a new arm of government bureaucracy because the powers of the Selective Immigration Board are limited. requiring no more than a small but competent staff to assist the Board in the discharge of its responsibilities. Since the Board and any staff connected with it will be terminated by law on October 1. 1967. the danger of planting the seeds of further bureaucratic involvement are minimized and controlled by the cutoff date. Mr. Speaker. the bill which I have introduced is based upon my 22 years experience in Congress. very careful study of our entire immigration program and testimony given during the 20 days of hearings before Subcommittee No. 1 on pending immigration legislation. including H.R. 7700. Our hearings began on June 11. 1964. and they are continuing according to the schedule set and announced on June 1. 1964. We have completed testimony from interested Members of Congress. We have completed testimony from the Secretary of State. the Attorney General. and the Secretary of Labor. We have completed testimony from the operating level of the Department of Justice. including the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization. We have taken testimony on 2 days from the Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs. Department of State. and I regret to announce that testimony is neither satisfactory nor complete. Because of scheduled commitments to take testimony from interested nonGovernment organizations and individual citizens. we opened that phase of our hearings on August 5. 1964. and we will continue those hearings until we have heard as many witnesses as time will permit. Let me say. in this connection. that we have had thoughtful and informative testimony. both pro and con. from this healthy wellspring of citizen opinion. Our hearings to date reveal there is great disagreement about what our immigration policy is or ought to be. Testimony in support of H.R. 7700 has been inconclusive. in some important respects. conflicting and uncertain. It is apparent that Congress will require studies. investigations. and public hearings in depth to weld an immigration policy and supporting laws which serve the domestic needs and international commitments of our Nation. That is a primary responsibility of Congress which must be discharged. Congress provided the mechanism by law to discharge that responsibility when it established the Joint Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy in 1952. It is time Congress provided the funds necessary for the joint committee to discharge its responsibilities. The obvious alternative is continuing conflict over what our immigration policy is. in fact. and what it ought to be. along with the present open invitation for the executive branch of Government to seek the authority in this field which Congress is unwilling to exercise. Let me make it clear that I am dedicated to maintaining the separation of powers upon which our representative form of government is based. I do not point a finger of accusation at the executive branch of our Government because I understand fully that when a vacuum of authority exists someone always moves in to fill it. My single purpose is and has been to put Congress in a position where it can discharge its constitutional authority as well as its unquestioned responsibility for regulating immigration into the United States. Finally. Mr.