Speech #900135352

Speaker. 2 years ago on this day. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Immigration Act. This was an historic event not only because it was performed in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Bay. but because it marked the end of an era of prejudice and bias in our relationships with the peoples of many countries. The signing of this great act impressed the whole world as a symbol of American freedom and justice to almost the same degree to which they have regarded that great statue as the symbol of freedom. The act for which so many of us here worked so ardently and for so many years marked a real milestone in this countrys policy toward the admission of aliens for permanent residence. This act is now being widely referred to as the "Johnson Act." and rightly so. because it was enacted primarily as a result of the forceful and determined personal efforts of the President to secure its passage. No President in history has demonstrated greater interest in and compassion for the worlds homeless people. no President has equaled having such appreciation for the rich gifts which immigrants of all nationalities have brought to this country. and no President has been more alert to the needs of having adequate. yet fair and equitable. safeguards established for the control of immigration than has President Lyndon B. Johnson. I consider my more than 20 years of uninterrupted fighting for improved immigration legislation a most significant aspect of my service in Congress. I regard the passage of the immigration bill as one of the most rewarding achievements in which I played a part. and I look back with continued gratification not only to having been present at the acts historymaking signing ceremony. but it was my privilege to be present at the ceremony in Naples. Italy. when the first visa under the new law was issued to Salvatore Esposito and his wife Marianow residents of my district in Brooklyn. I still recall with unquenched feeling. hearing the President 2 years ago utter those truly significant words: This Bill that we sign today is not a revolutionary bill. It does not affect the lives of millions.