Speech #900235404

Mr. Speaker. 3 years ago. like many of our distinguished colleagues in both Houses. I felt that national origin quotas were unfair. We removed the onus by passing the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Unquestionably. the act has erased some inequities and has contributed to a more just form of immigration in the sense of reuniting families and attracting immigrants with needed skills. Yet. at the same time. by requiring a labor certificate. we inadvertently threw up a barrier against many nations who sent us the "new seed" in years past from which this country grew. Specifically. prospective immigrants from Ireland have been the most adversely affected by the 1965 act. On July 1 the 1965 act will be fully implemented and the old quota system will vanish into limbo. With it will also disappear Irish immigration to American shores. Some of us foresaw this and introduced legislation to eliminate the labor certificate requirement and restore the original provision under which the Secretary of Labor made the determination upon which entry was based. With the expiration of the old quota system now only 3 months away. and with the competition for places by other nations which may be supplying a large number of immigrants under preference categories. it is too late to act on that previously planned course of action. The only way left open to us to avoid discriminating against countries which. for generations. have provided the great majority of our immigrant stock is to put some kind of floor under immigration from countries like Ireland which have been the hardest hit. Twentyone of my distinguished colleagues and I have done precisely that in H.R. 16593. It is imperative that we act quickly before the gateway to America is closed in the face of Ireland.