Speech #890137979

I have some problems in respect to it. which I share with other Members of this body and other Members of Congress. but the important point I wish to emphasize first Is that. in substance. I very much want to see this bill become law. Leaving aside for the moment the problems. which I shall discuss in a moment. the bill represents a major achievement for Congress in the effort to wipe out immigration policies which for more than 40 years have discriminated against certain people coming into this country on the basis of their place of birth rather than their ability and qualification to enter the United States. I take pride. together with the Senator from Hawaii . who Just spokeand he has a very deep place in our hearts--in the origins which are represented by some of us who are supporting these fundamental reforms. My own parents are immigrants. one was from what was known as the AustroHungarian Empire. and the other from what is now Israel and what was then known as Palestine. Amazing divergencies are brought together. in this wonderful country under the authority of our Constitution. with all the strengths of differing origins contributing to and building Americas total strength rather than in any way detracting from it. Mr. President. the areas in which I find myself in considerable concern about the bill are essentially two: First. the absence of a statute of limitations. which has been one of the problems presented by the McCarranWalter Act. with relation especially to the deportation of those who have been here in many cases for years. and frequently involving tragic instances in which people have had to be deported after spending 20. 30 or more years in this country and having established residence here. The other problem which gives me great cause for concern. and which was also great cause for concern before the Judiciary Committeeand I have the honor to be a member of that committeeis the problem of the newand I emphasize the word "new"-ceilings on Western Hemisphere immigration. This is a ceiling which we have never had before. a ceiling of 120.000 imposed by the bill upon Western Hemisphere immigration. with grave differences over what it will mean in terms of our relations with the rest of the nations of the Americas. First. as to the fundamental bill. Our Nation has has been made great by immigrants. Men and women from all over the world have contributed to the growth of our country. the prosperity of our economy. the diversity of our cultural heritage and the building of the United States as a nation. Both the dictates of our consciences. as well as precepts of modern sociologists. tell us that immigration. as it exists in the national origins quota system. is wrong. and without any basis in reason or in fact. for we know better than to say that one man is better than another because of color of his skin or the country in which he was born. I opposed the socalled McCarranWalter Act. which I said compounded the inequities. injustices. and the discrimination of the national origins quota system. which we will now eliminate at long last. I voted to sustain the veto of that bill. The veto was to the credit of President Truman. I come to this issue not as a Johnnycomelately. but as the culmination of a long struggle In which I joined with many Senators in the Congress. I fought for many years to bring about this immigration reform. and on many occasions protested bitterly and vigorously to efforts to satisfy the Congress by giving the country fixed quotas to alleviate some situation. with the only end result that the basic discrimination of the McCarranWalter immigration law continued while Congress allowed itself to be satisfied with additional national quotas for one purpose or another. It is. therefore. with deep gratification. after this struggle which began about 15 years ago. we are finally at a point where from all appearances we shall be embarking on a totally new path from the 1924 immigration law. Many words have been said on the floor of the Senate about all men being equal and about how all men should be given equal opportunity without regard to their race or color. How then can we tolerate leaving such blatant and unfounded discrimination on our statute books as exists in the national origins quota system in which nearly 70 percent of the visas go to less than 5 countries and the remaining 30 percent for the rest of the world. I believe most of us agree that it is high time that this be done away with. It has been 13 years since immigration injustice was perpetrated in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. the McCarranWalter Act. It is time to replace it. Time and experience have more than dramatized the fact that. as its opponents contended 13 years ago. it is perhaps as unique a law as we have on our statute books. But these 11 years have also produced an atmosphere of political helplessness to exasperate even the most determined immigration reformers. so that today most are resigned to the now annual practice of settling for piecemeal revisions or temporary relief rather than an effective overhaul of our entire policy of immigration. The backdoor methods Congress has used to cover up deficiencies in the basic law is the greatest proof of the laws Inadequacies. Since the McCarranWalter Act was enacted. Congress has passed special. shortterm immigration and refugee legislation which has had the cumulative effect of admitting into the United States more than twice as many persons as permitted under the basic McCarranWalter Act. But even this piecemeal legislation has represented no relief to the thousands of American families with relatives in countries with heavily mortgaged and oversubscribed immigration quotas. This tragic situation is the result of that section of the McCarranWalter Act which is admittedly based on national and racial discriminationthe national origins quota system. which remains today a target for Communist propaganda and making our effort to win over the uncommitted nations more difficult. It is based on the rejected racist assumption that people of one ethnic origin are superior. socially and culturally. to those of another. It was designed and is administered not to admit as many immigrants as we can readily absorb. but to exclude as many as possible. The time has come to end this production on national image with meaningful reform of our immigration policy. First and foremost. before I get into details to which I might take exception. I urge prompt passage of this legislation so that we can fashion an immigration policy of which this country can be proud instead of ashamed. as it has every right to be up to now. This bill establishes a national quota outside the Western Hemisphere of 170.000. including 6 preference groups that may use up to 94 percent of the quota. and with 6 percent10.200 visas set asidefor the conditional entry of refugees from anywhere in the world. Of this 6 percent. 3 percent may be used to adjust the status of refugees after 2 years residence in the United States. The bill provides that. for the first 3 years after enactment. the area quotas now authorized158.361shall not be changed but that quota numbers not used in the prior year shall make up an immigration pool from which visas may be issued within the preferences established in H.R. 2580. as amended. and in chronological order of registration of oversubscriptions. The use of the pool is limited to the extent that the maximum number of visas Issued from the area quota plus the pool for any country shall not exceed 20.000. After the first 3 years there will be no area quotas. and all visas will be issued on a firstcome. firstserved basis within the preferences established in H.R. 2580. as amended. We should be quick to realize that the additional immigrants who are being admitted are. for the most part. either famfly relations of people who are already here or professional and skilled people who will help our economy. Familial relationships have been given high priority in the preference system set up in H.R. 2580. receiving the first 40 percent. This will permit the reunification of families which have been kept apart.