Speech #900235406

Mr. Speaker. I rise this afternoon to appeal to the Congress for legislation that will halt the unjustified and unfortunate restraints that are being imposed on the people of a few foreign nations who wish to immigrate to the United States. The amendments to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act enacted in 1965 were clearly intended to make the immigration policies of this Nation more equitable and to end the nation quota system that discriminated against southern and eastern Europeans and Asians. In some instances. however. the effects of the amendments--far from simply eliminating inequitieshave been simply to shift those burdens from one group of nations to another. The nation that is being most severely and adversely affected by current immigration laws is Irelanda land whose sons and daughters have done so much to build this country and to make it prosper. and a land with which the United States has had the warmest ties. While total immigration to the United States has increased since 1965. Irish immigration has been choked to a mere fraction of what it was in 1965 and before. Total admission of immigrants into the United States has risen from 292.000 in 1964 to 326.000 in 1967. During the same period. immigration from Ireland has fallen from more than 4.000 to less than 2.000. In short. Irish immigration has been more than cut in half since 1965. and threatens to drop as low as 400 per year after 1968. This harsh treatment of potential Irish immigrants certainly was not the intent of the Congress when it passed the 1965 immigration amendments. It is an unanticipated and unintended aberration in the law. As such. It must not go unchallenged or uncorrected. It is the responsibility of all Members of Congress who support the principle of equitable immigration policies to act promptly to reverse the trend that promises to all but close the door to Irish immigrants. With this in mind. Mr. Speaker. I have today directed a letter to all members of the Subcommittee on Immigration of the House Judiciary Committee urging its chairman and the members of that committee to give immediate and favorable attention to this matter and to convene public hearings at the earliest possible date: