Speech #890138312

We knew these men and we knew their minds and their hearts. I will borrow a few lines from a newspaper editorial back home. It says: Immigration reform is essential. A few moments before his death. President Kennedy launched a renewed effort to wipe out patent inequities of U.S. immigration policy. President Johnson has continued it. The very simplicity of those sentences makes them eloquent. Through the years I was honored to be associated with Senator John F. Kennedyas I joined with him and he Joined with me in immigration measures beyond count. John F. Kennedy. who owed his American day to his immigrant forbears. felt deeply. spoke honestly. and acted earnestly in wanting America to keep faith with the world. It is a world that looks to us for standards of decency and dignityof equity and fair play. John Kennedys immortal testAsk not what America can do for youask only what you can do for Americawould still be his test. He would remember what the immigrant had done for Americaand the need that still exists that our character and courage and culture continue to be stimulated by the qualities and equities that made our history. These are the qualities and equities that gave our country growth to greatness in a world that has become too small to permit us to be too smugtoo selfcentered. The act of 1952 was far from satisfying many of usand it did not silence us. In these 13 years we have not merely marked time. By dint of dedication and determined effort. we have made more than a score of corrections. exceptions. alterations. improvements. and advancements in our immigration laws. And now we make the major reform in the iniquitousand I say that advisedlyquota system. Two years ago. President John F. Kennedy asked us to eliminate this discrimination. His message might be summarized in these excerpts: The use of the national origins system is without basis in logic or reason. It neither satisfies a national need nor accomplishes an international purpose * * * in an age of interdependence among nations. After 2 years. we are making our response with this remedy.