Persons from many nations and many nationalities and many ethnic groups all contribute to this culture. But it is also important to recognize that as they have changed America. so has America changed them. The result is a nation which in combining the best of each ethnic group has. in effect. like a great. fine hybrid. surpassed each predecessor. and has provided a standard of living that surpasses that of any country from which all our forebears once immigrated. Mr. Chairman. the question that must be answered today. it seems to me. is. will our national interests be advanced by the emasculation of a new immigration policy which has served us so well. even though it is imperfect. or will it. instead. create new problems for a nation that is only now beginning to accept. that even in a land of plenty. we have problems of poverty. problems of unemployment. and of racial conflict? Mr. Chairman. will a drastic change In immigration policy contribute to or aggravate those problems That is the question. Surely it is all too obvious that it will compound our efforts to reduce poverty. to provide jobs for the unemployed. and to reduce minority tensions. Mr. Chairman. let us not lose sight of the fact that under the present McCarranWalter type of immigration law. the United States is the most generous of all nations in its Immigration policy. It not only admits about 200.000 more newcomers a year than any other country in the world. but it is one of the few countries on earth that excludes no nation. Now. Mr. Chairman. it is said that the main thrust of this bill will be to establish skills rather than the country of origin as the basis for immigration. Now. presumably. those skills will be of little use unless there are vacant jobs to utilize them. Mr.
Keywords matched
Immigration immigration immigrated