Speech #890120790

I think that the members of the House Judiciary Committee should be commended for the outstanding work they have done in connection with this legislation. They have produced a bill at the same time flexible and humane and mindful of the national economic and security interests. There is no danger of a flood of immigration from any one country due to the 20.000 limitation written into the bill. In fact. the bill insures that we will continue to welcome those many groups from all over the world that have contributed so much to our culture. our economy. and our national life. The committee. in my judgment. was wise in leaving the nonquota status for immigrants from the Western Hemisphere in the law. This provision is an important symbol of hemispheric solidarity and has presented no problems of abuse or of claims of discriminatory treatment from other nations. This feature. which was incorporated into the original 1924 statute. proved to be one of the soundest of that legislation. It should be retained. The transition period embodied in the bill is probably necessary. but I am pleased that the unused quotas will be put to the immediate use of those which have been traditionally oversubscribed and of refugees. In addition. more protection is provided for U.S. workers through the requirement that an intending immigrant obtain clearance from the Secretary of Labor that he would not be likely to displace a qualified American worker or adversely affect the wages and working conditions of workers employed in the United States. The actual impact of the legislation can best be seen by a brief look at statistics. The quota of Italy. for example. is now 5.666 per year. It is oversubscribed by about 100.000. Under the terms of the new bill when totally in effect. immigration could reach the maximum of 20.000. but is estimated by the Department of State to reach 17.000. This picture could be repeated for country after country where the quotas have been terribly oversubscribed for many years. In summary. then. I think that this is a long overdue. eminently reasonable solution to an important national problem. Of course. we cannot possibly absorb every immigrant who wishes to come to the United States. But we have a responsibility to insure that the necessary selection process is conducted with the maximum good sense and humanity.