Speech #890120801

Mr. Chairman. I rise to support H.R. 2580. the longawaited bill to repeal the national origins quota provisions from the Immigration and Nationality Act. The national origins quota system has been the object of a continuing controversy ever since it was enacted in 1924. The intention with which it was enacted has always been apparent. This intention was to check the flow of immigration that this country had experienced early in this century from southern and eastern Europe. That socalled threat to our national institutions has long since passed. But the national origins quota system has remained on the statute books to give a false Impression of the actual immigration policy of the United States. It has given a false image because it simply has not controlled the flow of immigration as It was intended to do. As has been pointed out many times in the hearings and discussions concerning the pending legislation. the present quota system has controlled only onethird the immigration this country has experienced since the Immigration and Nationality Act was enacted in 1952. The national origins quota system has been chipped away by the enactment of numerous laws granting admission to refugees. victims of disasters. and relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents. It Is clearly apparent by now that the national origins quota system is not only highly discriminatory. but that in fact it has proven itself ineffectual because It does not comport with our national aspirations and ideals. As President Kennedy stated In his immigration message of July 23. 1963. "The use of a national origins system is without basis in either logic or reason. It neither satisfies a national need nor accomplishes an international purpose." The pending bill would replace the present quota system with a system of preferences based on a firstcome. firstserved principle but with a limitation of 20.000 immigrants from any one country in a given year. The new system would go into effect on July 1. 1968. after a 3year phaseout of the present system. The new system would increase immigration. which now averages around 300.000 a year. by more than an estimated 60.000. a 20percent increase. The bill would. in addition. strengthen the existing safeguards of American workers from the effects of immigrants seeking to enter the United States to find employment. This is a reasonable bill. It is the product of nearly 3 years of labor on the part of the Subcommittee on Immigration of the Committee on the Judiciary. It will replace a system that has no justification on the basis of principle or experience. I therefore urge that it be adopted.