Speech #890139724

The vast gulf of cultural. racial and economic differences tends to further drive nations apart. especially in this day of rapid transportation and communication. It is in this historic context that the United States as the primary recipient of European. Immigration has had to examine its policy of admitting aliens. The problems did not become acute nor was It a matter of great concern. until the middle 1800s. when this Nation began to industrialize. and at the same time. large numbers of South Europeans began to come here. As long as we had free lands and the population remained culturally and racially the same. there was little need for immigration laws. When that situation began to change in the early 20th century. it became necessary for the United States to protect itself by the enactment of restrictive legislation on immigration. It is with this background in mind that I propose to discuss House bill 2580. Mr. President. the purpose of H.R. 2580. a bill to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act is: First. to abolish the national origins quota system. and second. the repeal of the socalled AsiaPacific triangle. Since 1924. the United States officially established a policy of admitting immigrants to this country on the basis of national origins already represented in the United States. It was the purpose and intention of Congress in 1924 to maintain and continue the racial. ethnic and cultural traditions of the United States by admitting immigrants in proportion to their American counterparts. It was the intention of Congress that the United States should continue to be a Christian nation. populated primarily by those nationalities which compose Western Europe today. It is now proposed that we change this system of immigration in favor of a "first come. first served" basis. It has been said that we are a nation of immigrants. This is. of course. true. with the exception of the American Indian. However. the United States is no longer In the age of infancy or adolescence. nor is it a vast continental area largely unpopulated. The United States is today a mature. sophisticated. highly industrialized and densely populated nation. Today. only the politicians are aware of the hyphenated Americans. The great mass of American people consider themselves only American. and this is true whether their name is "Jones" or "Janowsky." It is contended by the advocates of immigration policy change that since 1924 the United States has abandoned its traditional concept that all are welcome and that our historic plea has been in the words of the old invitation. "give us your suffering. your homeless masses." I submit. and history will bear me out. that the United States. from Its earliest beginnings. at no time encouraged the indiscriminate migration of foreigners to our shores. The Immigration and Nationality Service states that: Thomas Jefferson thought it unwise to encourage immigration from monarchial governments. George Washington viewed unrestricted immigration with caution. When John Quincy Adams was Secretary of State in 1819. he stated that the Government had never officially encouraged immigration from Europe. Adams declared that immigrants were not to expect favors. The Alien Act of 1798 empowered the President to deport any alien whom he considered dangerous to the Government. Although no immigration laws governing immigration of aliens to the United States were passed until 1875. no one advocated the opening of the floodgates to unrestricted immigration from Asia. Africa. Latin America or other areas of the world with populations dissimilar from our own. In 1875. Congress passed the first law preventing the physically and mentally ill from Immigrating to the United States. In 1882. Congress enacted the first general immigration law and excluded the mentally incompetent. convicts. and those likely to become public charges. In that same year. Congress also adopted a Chinese exclusion policy. With rapid industrialization following the War Between the States and the beginning of the emergence of the United States as a great power. it Is not at all surprising that Congress wished to protect the citizens of this country by being more selective in those whom it permitted to immigrate here. This was a period of the burgeoning technological growth and advancement of organized labor. This was a period when it became the duty of Congress to protect the American workingman from the importation of Chinese coolie labor and other cheap labor supply. There is a strange attitude in this country today on the part of some people who feel that this land and its material wealth do not rightfully belong to the citizens of this country. but in effect belong to the worlds population at large. American citizens have been taxed untold billions of dollars to support foreign governments and foreign peoples. Now we are being asked to surrender the country itself to the worlds hordes who are just waiting for the immigration barriers to be lowered. Every public official in this Government knows the power of bloc voting. Bad as it is today.