Speech #890123017

Under the leadership of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson this Nation has made substantial gains in securing economic and social justice for all our peoples. True. parts of the country have had to be pulled and pushed into the 20th century but that we have been able to do it in an orderly fashion with a minimum of bloodshed is a tribute to our Nation. Today I wish to urge my colleagues to support immigration reform. It has been called must legislation. but it is must only in the sense that reform will end the false image of the United States as a nation dedicated to policies which work against the welfare and happiness of its inhabitants not of a certain nationality. race. or creed. It will be further evidence of our determination to implement fully the ideals of equality and justice on which this democracy was founded. It will be a memorial to the millions who have given their lives so that we may be free. Last week the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization ordered reported out a bill which seeks to eliminate the inequitable features of our old immigration restrictions. Although it is not clear what the final form of the bill will be. It is nonetheless heartening that so many Senators have finally agreed that we ought to move ahead towards reform. I am confident that the full committee will give fair consideration to the reasons which call for change. Only a few days ago our eminent colleagues in the House gave their overwhelming approval to a bill which would eliminate the national origins quota. Surely we cannot do less in repudiating those ideas which. although current only a few years ago. have shown themselves unfit for the modern world. In praising the House. I look forward to those anxious days ahead when we. and especially my friends on the Judiciary Committee. shall have the opportunity to heal the sores which have festered so long. It is time to recognize the truth of the statement that we are indeed a nation of immigrants.