Speech #890120802

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of H.R. 2580. to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act. because I believe It provides many urgently needed and longoverdue reforms and revisions In Americas present immigration system. We are. in the words of John F. Kennedy. "a nation of immigrants"-and no country on earth owes more to Immigrants than America. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said in 1944: All of our peopleexcept fullblooded American Indiansare immigrants. or descendants of immigrants. including those who came here on the Mayflower. Californians. particularly. have always had a special stake in our immigration policiesbecause we owe so much to the immigrants who came to our State from all over the world. And we have always been an outwardlooking people. coming as we do from many ethnic and cultural backgroundsa true melting pot of the strength and diversity that has made America great. For this reason. I welcome the opportunity to support the legislation before us today as the first major revision in our now long outdated and highly discriminatory 40yearold immigration system. The last four Presidents of the United States--Johnson. Kennedy. Eisenhower. and Trumanhave all opposed continuation of the discredited and ineffective national origins feature of the present law. and have recommended enactment of a number of reform measures to secure a fairer. more equitable. and nondiscriminatory immigration system. In vetoing what later became the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. President Truman stated: This quota systemalways based upon assumptions at variance with our American idealsis long since out of date and more than ever unrealistic in the face of present world conditions * * * (its) greatest vice. however. is that it discriminates. deliberately and Intentionally. against many of the peoples of the world. * * * The basis of this quota system was false and unworthy in 1924. It is even worse now. President Eisenhower also sent messages to Congress recommending immigration reform. stating that experience in the postwar world demonstrated that the national origins method of admitting aliens needed to be reexamined. and a new system adopted which would admit aliens within allowable numbers according to new guidelines and standards. On July 23. 1963. in his special immigration message to Congress. President Kennedy declared: The most urgent and fundamental reform I am recommending relates to the national origins system of selecting immigrants.* 0 0 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. In an age of interdependence among nations such a system is an anachronism. for it discriminates among applicants for admission into the United States on the basis of accident of birth. * * * Accordingly. although the legislation I am transmitting deals with many problems which require remedial action. it concentrates attention primarily upon revision of our quota immigration system. The enactment of this legislation will not resolve all of our important problems in the field of immigration law. It will. however. provide a sound basis upon which we can build In developing an immigration law that serves the national interest and reflects in every detail the principles of equality and human dignity to which our Nation subscribes. And in January of this year. President Johnson characterized the present immigration law as "incompatible with our basic American tradition." He continued: Over the years the ancestors of all of ussome 42 million human beingshave migrated to these shores. The fundamental. longtime American attitude has been to ask not where a person comes from but what are his personal qualities. On this basis men and women migrated from every quarter of the globe. By their hard work and their enormously varied talents they hewed a great nation out of a wilderness. By their dedication to liberty and equality. they created a society reflecting mans most cherished ideals. * * * Violation of this tradition by the national origins quota system does incalculable harm. * * * I do not believe it is either good government or good sense. With this background of bipartisan presidential support for a major overhaul of our immigration policies. it is a real privilege to be able to support the present legislation. which. though still not perfect. represents a tremendous improvement over the existing system. The bills main provisions will: First. Abolish the national origins quota system. which is based largely on birthplace and ancestry and is tied to the 1920 Federal census. Besides being highly discriminatory in both theory and practice. the national origins system has been a failure even as a device to control immigration by predetermined percentages of national and racial stock. For example. during the period since the 1952 law was enacted. only approximately onethird of all aliens admitted to the United States were quota immigrants admitted in accordance with racial or national eligibility. Despite this fact. the entire fabric of our immigration law has been blemished by the very existence of such a discriminatory system. Second. Provide for a new and far more equitable system of preferential admission of immigrants based on close family relationships with U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens. It also provides priority for immigrants with special skills and talents. for persons of exceptional ability in the sciences or arts. and for some openings to fill jobs where workers are in short supply. Third. Put an overall 170.000 limitationsincluding 10.200 refugees and a maximum of 20.000 for any one countryon the number of immigrants who could be admitted to the United States in any fiscal year. This would not include "Immediate relativesspouses. children and parents of U.S. citizensor "special immigrants" from the Western Hemisphere. both of which groups are considered outside the overall numerical limitation. Fourth. Eliminate the present AsiaPacific triangle provision. which greatly restricted immigration by people of Asian ancestry. Other discriminatory features of that provision were removed by Congress In recent years. and this bill will end them allthus eliminating the last vestige of discrimination against persons of Asian descent from our immigration laws. Fifth. Require safeguards to protect American workers from unfair job competition and to protect the economy against adverse working standards. Mr. Chairman. I was gratified that the House did not accept the amendment to impose a numerical ceiling on immigration from the Western Hemisphere. Such a ceiling would. in my opinion. have adversely affected our historic good neighbor policy and would have disturbed the close. friendly relations we are attempting to build through the Alliance for Progress. However. I am disappointed that the legislation before us continues a provision of the present law which discriminates against certain relatives of U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens from the Western Hemisphere by requiring that they obtain a special clearance from the Secretary of Labor prior to issuance of a visa. It is my intention to continue to work to eliminate this unjust and discriminatory provision of our immigration laws. so that intending immigrants from the Western Hemisphere will be accorded the same consideration as persons from other parts of the world with similar family relationships to U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens. With this exception. Mr. Chairman. I believe H.R. 2580 is a major improvement over our current policy. It certainly does not "open the immigration floodgates" as some have alleged. for the actual increase in authorized annual total immigration will be less than 2.000 over the present number of quota admissions. But. by eliminating the longdiscredited national origins quota system and setting up an equitable selection system based on firstcome. firstserved within preference categories designed. first. to reunite families. and second to admit those with special knowledge or skills. this bill can make a real contribution to our Nations foreign policy. while at the same time strengther our domestic U.S. economic and cultural objectives. For these reasons. I hope that H.R. 2580 will receive the wholehearted support of the Members of this House.