Speech #890120786

Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to voice my support for the bill which is before us to modify and improve the immigration laws of the United States. All of us are conscious of the way in which this Nation began. through exploration of the seas. then of the New World. then of the lands to Louisiana and the West. and finally with the settlement and admission to the Union of the distant States. the Southwest. the Far West. Alaska. and Hawaii. We pay frequent tribute to the bold. restless adventurers. and the progressive. solid people who followed them into these new lands. We also are conscious of the tradition which they established of welcoming those who followed. And. in this 20th century. as we first established immigration legislation. these traditions and principles remain strong in our minds as we seek to work out basic tenets of immigration law. It has been evident. however. that with the modern improvement in transportation and in knowledge of the earth. that it is peopled by a much more mobile society. In turn. the law has not always reflected the willingness to change that was so evident in the past. In the Northeast. one of the first areas of our country to. be populated. this resistance to change that has been embodied in the law in recent decades has too often worked a real hardship. It has kept families apart. it has made travel difficult. It has frequently harmed the United States by preventing or delaying the admission of new immigrants whose skills could have meant much to our Nation. In the field of science. where my Subcommittee on Science. Research and Development. has made a thorough study of the resources which are available to us and the goals we seek. we are deeply aware of the international character of science and ofthe contributions which have been made by so many distinguished men and women to American security and to our knowledge by the foreignborn who have come to our shores. Yet we also know of the difficulties which have been experienced in bringing such people to our land. We are a country of many races and of many national origins. I am particularly pleased that the committee has recommended to the House. and that we will endorse a proposal to eliminate the national origins system which has plagued our country since 1924. This principle. whose primary objective when enacted in 1924 was to maintain the ethnic balance among the American population as it then existed. is inherently wrong. It has worked a hardship on those elements of the American people. no less worthy. who had come to the United States in this century. and who found themselves blocked from being joined by dear and close relatives. I want to commend the gentlemen of the committee -for the difficult task they have surmounted and for their achievement of a fair and workable immigration policy.