My other objection to the bill grew out of part of the debate on it on the day of its passage. During that debate Senator EDWARD M. KENNEDY. who was managing the bill for its proponents. admitted under questioning that under it 60.000 more immigrants per year would enter this country than the total annual number currently admitted under existing law. I was disturbed by this figure in the light of the present unemployment situation. Since that day I have given further study to the matter and have discussed it with Senators who are thoroughly Informed on it and am now convinced this figure is an overestimate. In addition and more important. the new law would place a much greater emphasis on admission of persons with professional and technical skills so that a very large proportion of the additional immigrants would fall into these categories and would not add to the unskilled labor supply in this country. which type of labor accounts for a large part of the unemployment problem. Thus. the new law would help us meet existing shortages in many areas of our. economy where skilled professional and technical workers are sorely needed. And. finally. because of the new limitation on total immigration from the Western Hemisphere. of which Senator ERVIN is the author. the overall effect of the new law over a period of years will be to hold down the total influx into our country. particularly of unskilled labor. Mr. President. I want to join with many others in paying tribute to my colleague. the senior Senator from North Carolina. for the magnificent contribution he has made during many hours of hard work on the perfecting of what I believe is now an immigration plan considerably superior to that provided under the present immigration laws. I therefore want to go on record as fayoring adoption of the conference report and enactment of this bill into law.
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants