Speech #890107428

Mr. President. recently the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. by a vote of 27 to 4. reported out. with the recommendation that it be passed. the Celler bill which embodies the administrations proposals for major reforms in the Nations immigration laws. Chairman CELLER. dean of the House of Representatives. and one of the great legislators and leaders in the Nation. deserves the gratitude of all Americans for his outstanding leadership in successfully guiding this important legislative proposal through his committee in the face of powerful opposition from those who sought to undermine it and render it ineffective and useless. The committees action marks a great step toward an objective sought by every President since Franklin D. Roosevelt. The bill would remove from the statute books the national origins quota system as a formula for admitting immigrants into this country. President Johnson hailed the committees action as "a breakthrough for reason. a triumph for justice." He went on to say: The House Judiciary Committee in enthusiastic bipartisan concert determined to redeem the pledge of this Nation to posteritythat freemen have no fear of justice. and proud men have no taste for bias. There is no law of the land more discriminatory and unfair than that which establishes the criteria by which we admit persons from other lands. There is no provision more distasteful to millions of Americans than our present immigration law which judges the worth of persons seeking entrance to the United States on the basis of their place of birth or ancestry. We are the Nation which chiseled into the base of the statute of liberty: Give me your tired. your poor. Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.