Speech #890146039

Albania. and other countries behind the Iron Curtain whenever freedom is restored to these unhappy lands. However. I want to make it clear that I oppose the concessions made in the conference to the other body by writing into this bill a ceiling on immigration for our neighbors of the American hemisphere. To my mind. this is a step backward. and I am fearful that it will cause a great deal of misunderstanding on the part of our neighbors. It is true that these neighbors will still receive 40 percent of the total quotas provided by the bill. but nevertheless. for the first time in history quota restrictions are imposed upon them. and I think this is most unfortunate and most unwise. How the formula designed to admit people on the basis of their skills. talent. ability. and so forth. will work out is problematical. and depends upon the way the law is administered. While scholarship. talents. and ablilty always have their place and contribute much. we should not overlook the fact that. as our own national experience so clearly reveals. it is from the lowly. from the humble. from the unschooled and untutored. and often from those who for long have been denied opportunities. that much of the great leadership and most loyal followership of this Nation has emerged. This Nation needs hewers of wood and drawers of water who can furnish the sinews for our economy and for our way of life and for the development of our family structure. from which so many leaders have sprung. and so many strong. loyal people have come to defend the country in time of need. to operate its factories. its transportation systems. its farms and do the work that has to be done in any great economic system like ours. I hope and urge that the administrators of the immigration bill will have this factor in mind and will not close the doors to the worthy. the industrious. to the honest. eager. if ordinary. citizens who want to come to this country as many of our forebears did. to seek the opportunities of its freedom and by their devotion. loyalty. and labor lift themselves up and lift their families up to strengthen the fiber and the leadership of the country. There is a great place for the geniuses. the supertalented. and the well to do. But they alone will not suffice.