Speech #890034116

Dr. Bounous came to America hoping to settle here. After a short stay in Indianapolis. his temporary visa expired and he was forced to move to Canada. Just last month. .Dr..Bounous was awarded Canadastop national medical award for his work in helping to discover the mystery of how shock from :bleeding can cause death. Here is a man whose great skills we turned away from our doors. This example could be multiplied endlessly. and I submit that America cannot afford this kind of. brain drain. Labor shortages could be rectified by bringing thousands of skilled workers to America from among the masses of people crying for admission. Yet they are prevented from adding their talent to our economy and we are prevented from enjoying the benefits Of their skills by our bigoted method of immigrant selection. If weaneed an immigration policy more suited to our modern manpower needs. we also need one that will better serve our Nations foreign policy goals. Secretary of State Rusks testimony on this point was very persuasive. Just within the last year. no less than a dozen foreign ministers among our friends and allies have personally complained to him about Americas immigration policy. Their grievance had nothing to do with the numbers of immigrants we admit. Indeed. we have one of the most generous policies in that respect of any nation in the world. Rather. it concerned the insulting. discriminatory features of our quota system. No other law on our books is as damaging to our national image abroad. Surely a more rational basis for regulating immigration than our present confused and irrational system can be found. I believe that it has been found and that it is embodied in the administration bill. By replacing national origin quotas with a quota reserve pool. that is assigned on a firstcome. firstserved basis. the bill puts all prospective immigrants on an equal footing to allow them a fair field and an honest race. The provisions facilitating the reunion of separated families show the concern for human factors that must underlie public policy in any civilized society. The priorities accorded immigrants with certain levels of skill. training. and education directly serve our own national interest. In sum. the bill substitutes order and justice for confusion and discrimination in a major area of our national law. I can think of no more fitting step toward the truly Great Society than passage of this bill. and I urge the adoption of this vital legislation.