Mr. President. it now appears that I will be serving. by designation of the Vice President. as a delegate to the International Telecommunications Union Plenipotentiary Conference abroad during the Senates consideration of H.R. 2580. the companion to S. 500. a bill which I have cosponsored to revise the immigration laws. and particularly to remove the discriminatory national origins quota system. The Senate will. I am confident. pass the kind of immigration reform that I have been fighting for for many years. and my position against any crippling amendments and in favor of final passage will be noted of record. I have long felt that in the forefront of the unfinished business of our free society has been the urgent necessity to eliminate the discriminatory national origins quota system from our Immigration laws. This system. based on the national origins of our population in 1920. says In effect that the people who produced a Plato. a Michelangelo. a Kosciuszko. are less welcome in America than those who come from other parts of the globe. I have opposed this repugnant philosophy of discrimination throughout my public life because I do not believe that there is any room in our society or in its laws for discrimination of any kind. We must eliminate once and for all this degrading concept of subjecting human beings to the indignity of being judged on the basis of their place of birth or racial ancestry rather than on their merits and qualifications. One of the first bills which I introduced in this session of the Congress was a billS. 436to reform our immigration laws and eliminate the national origins quota system. I am cosponsor of S. 500. and have testified before the Immigration Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee in its behalf as well as on behalf of my own bill. I have also closely followed its progress and helped as a member of the Judiciary Committee. in having this bill reported to the Senate Calendar. It is my belief that passage of this legislation is not only of great importance. but a long delayed act of justice.
Keywords matched
Immigration immigration national origins quota