Speech #880298914

Mr. Speaker. the hour is latethe 88th Congress nears adjournmentand still. hopelessly sidetracked in Subcommittee No. 1 of the House Judiciary Committee. the subcommittee having jurisdiction over immigration and nationality matters. lies a most important legislative measurean immigration proposal sent to the Congress on July 23. 1963. by the late President Kennedy. I hastened to join with the distinguished chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. the gentleman from New York and 55 other Members in introducing legislation. identical to H.R. 7700 which offered to the United States for the first time. an immigration proposal which would reasonably and equitably repeal the repugnant national origins system which has been the basis of our quota system since 1924. I applauded with enthusiasm on January 8. 1964. when President Johnson endorsed this legislative proposal and incorporated it in his state of the Union message. President Johnson stressed: We must lift by legislation the bar of discrimination against those who seek to enter our country. particularly those with much needed skills and those joining their families. In establishing preferences. a nation that was built by the immigrants of all lands can ask those who now seek admission: "What can you do for our country?" But we should not be asking: "In what country were you born?" I repeat these words of our President. now. because I fear that there are those among us who have forgottenor who have lost sight. or who have compromised the true objective of immigration reform. I know where I stand. My convictions are steadfast. In every new Congress. since I came to the Congress in 1949. I have introduced bills to repeal the national origins systema system which by its discrimination and inflexibility is an injustice to the thousands of U.S. citizens who are separated from their loved ones. On March 21. 1951. I submitted to the Joint Committee. then holding hearings on legislation to codify the conglomeration of immigration and nationality laws: "* * * to me the distribution of quotas under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1924 is a shocking display of a discredited theory of racism. I think it is time to call the law for what it isan attempt to set out a theory of racial superiority." Unfortunately. the tenor of that time. permeated by fear and timidity about receiving peoples from certain parts of the world. caused the national origins system to be incorporated in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. And. I categorically add. no other provision of law has offended so many Americans and has so injured Americas image in the eyes of the world. Since 1957 every Congress has been called upon to enact additional laws which have partly whittled away the national origins formula. These measures which softened the inequities of existing law by reuniting families and admitting highly skilled specialists were commendable. But those efforts were overshadowed by the basically restrictive and inflexible immigration law. Piecemeal legislation has never reached the core of the problem. Each time the pressures for immigration reform developed. the socalled one shot laws were enacted. How can we justify the policy of the basic law when during the last 6 years. laws were approved in respect to refugees and nonquota immigration irrespective of place of birth? We must contrast the policy of law as written with the policy of conduct and action. How many more times must the Congress be faced with piecemeal legislation? Is there no rule against perpetuities? The KennedyJohnson immigration proposal is a fresh and courageous approach to the elimination. for once and for all. of the discrimination existing in our immigration laws. This long postponed change will recognize the dignity of the individualpredicated upon the principle that one person is no less desirable than any other person regardless of his race. or his place of birth. After my frequent appeals. and the appeals of many of our colleagues. for prompt consideration. hearings were commenced on June 11. 1964. on all general immigration bills as well as H.R. 7700. The hearings continued for over 3 months. I listened to the Attorney General. the Secretary of State. the Secretary of Labor and witness after witness denounce the national origins system. I elicited from witness after witness the primary objectivethe elimination of the national origins system. Secretary of State. Dean Rusk. testifying before the subcommittee. commended the Congress on the fine record the Congress had established in approving legislative acts which clearly reflected the intent of the Congress to relieve pressures created by quota restrictions. but the Secretary stressed the tremendous importance of eliminating the discrimination in principlethe stigma which reflects upon the generosity the United States has shown to thousands of immigrants. refugees. and the hopeless. The words of the Secretary are dramatic: It does not bother me to say to someone outside the United States. "we are sorry that we cannot admit you because we have run out of numbers" but it does make it difficult from a political and psychological point of view to say. "we are sorry that we have run out of numbers for Greeks." Mr. Speaker. the immigration policy of the United States. notwithstanding any generosity. will be a continuous effrontery to every American and a source of embarrassment to the United. States so long as our statute books contain the symbolic element of discrimination. a prejudice directed to some peoples which is repugnant to the true character of the American people. Equality. under law. must be assured to all people. I shall persist in my efforts. even in the closing hours of this Congress. for enactment of H.R. 7700. immigration reform envisaged by President Kennedy and President Johnson. I am a practical man. I know that we can no longer admit everyone who wishes to come herewe must be able to provide for those who do come with jobs. with homes. and with futures. A modern society is limited as to the rate at which it can expand and accommodate new settlers. I have pledged my every effort for enactment of immigration legislation which will express the true concepts of freedom and equality for which this Nation stands. I have neve? waivered from this pledgenor will I ever. This is where I stand.