Speech #890137898

Madam President. I express my hearty commendation of what the Senator from Massachusetts has said upon the limitation of immigration from the Western Hemisphere. I would like to emphasize in this connection what the Senator from Massachusetts saidthat this limitation does not go into effect until July 1. 1968. and that the commission which is to be created by the bill Is specifically charged with the duty to study this limitation and make such recommendations to the Congress as it sees fit. I commend the Senator for pointing out in such an eloquent way that this limitation on the Western Hemisphere does not constitute any discrimination whatever. but. on the contrary. it brings the Western Hemisphere in line with our policy with respect to the rest of the world. I point out also that the limitation of 120.000 as applied to the Western Hemisphere. as contradistinguished from the 170.000 in the Eastern Hemisphere. still makes provision in favor of the Western Hemisphere. in that it allocates. if my arithmetic is correct. 45 percent of our immigration from an area of the world which at the present moment contains only 15 percent of the worlds population. So we are still giving the Western Hemisphere an advantage under this bill.