Speech #890139836

Mr. President. like the Senator from Florida. I entertain the opinion that the national origins quota system is a wise formula on which to base our immigration law. Instead of its being founded upon prejudice. it was based upon the assumption that we should welcome to this country for permanent residence and eventual citizenship immigrants with cultural backgrounds similar to those of people already here. because such immigrants could be most readily assimilated into our population and into our life. As Senator McCarran said. the national origins quota system held up a mirror to America and reflected America as we know it. Mr. President. as a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization and as a member of the Committee on the Judiciary. I have had to study this problem since February. In my study I found that the majority of the Members of the U.S. Congress do not entertain my conviction about the wisdom of the national origins quota system of the WalterMcCarran Act. So. as a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization and a member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. I was confronted by two possible courses of action. First. I could have spent my time and my energy in fighting a lost cause for the preservation of the national origins quota system. and suffered defeat without anything constructive. That was my first possible course of action. My second possible course of action was to recognize the inevitable. which was the abolition of the national origins quota system by a majority of the Congress. and assist other Members of the Senate who happened" to be members of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization to try to process the very best immigration bill we could for the United States under the circumstances. at a time when a majority of the Congress was going to abolish the national origins quota system. which I cherish. as does the Senator from Florida. I believe I can truthfully say. as a member of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization that. in my judgment. it has brought to the Senate a good immigration bill. The bill does not open the doors for the admission of all the people all over the face of the earth. It specifically restricts immigration to three groups of people. It extends the privilege of immigration to America to the relatives of American citizens already here. people who possess not only residence in America. but the right of citizenship in America. and it restricts those relatives to certain close relativesnot to cousins who may be all over the world. but to certain specified degrees of relationship. That is the first group to which the bill grants the privilege of immigration to the United States. The second group is composed of near relatives of persons who have already been received into the United States as permanent residents for the eventual purpose of becoming citizens of the United States. The third group the bill admits to the United States. from whatever country they may come. is Immigrants who are able to contribute something to either the economic or cultural advancement of the United States because of their skills or because of their willingness to work in areas in which we have a short supply of labor in the United States. The bill does abolish the national origins quota systems. which I personally would like to keep. because I think it is wise. for the reasons I have stated. but it does something to restrict immigration which has never been done before. It puts a limitation on all immigration we receive from the Western Hemisphere. and by so doing extends to the Western Hemisphere the same policy which we have extended to the Eastern Hemisphere. The bill does one thing which I personally would not have done if I had had a majority. and that is to abolish the national origins quota system of the WalterMcCarran Act. Nevertheless. I think the bill is a good bill which is designed to restrict our immigration while extending the privilege of immigration to all on the face of the earth. However. I emphasize that it is designed to restrict immigration to near relatives of those who are already in the United States either as citizens or as immigrants who have been admitted for permanent residence and eventual citizenship. and to those persons who have something to contribute to the economic and cultural development of the United States. So I can say that notwithstanding the fact that I regret the bill does abolish. instead of retain. the national origins quota system. inmy honest judgment it is a good measure. The bill should protect America and contribute substantially to the future development of our country. I am sorry that my good friend from Wyoming [Mr. McGEEl has left the Chamber. I started to say. in jesting guise. although it is not thatit is the truth. that I cannot take too much pride in the way our first immigrants acted in this country. A great historian said that the first thing the first immigrants did when they got to America was to fall on their knees. and the next thing was to fall on the aborigines. So for that reason I do not take any great pride as an American in the conduct of our early immigrants to this country in their relations with the Indians.