Speech #940057054

And. there is strong historical evidence that if we do shut our doors to these individualsfor they are all individualswe will have taken that first step into a dark chapter of selfishness and isolation. This. we must not allow to happen. for. as President John F. Kennedy told us eloquently: "We are indeed a Nation of immigrants." And. whether one takes the view that we are a melting pot where assimilation has been the goal and homogeneity the product or a mosaic where cultural heritages have been isolated and preserved. the fact remains: We" all came from across the oceans or are descendants of those who did. It is said that the only "true Americans" are fullblooded American Indians. and it is certainly true that this was their land before the advent of the European colonists. But. we are all truly Americanswe who are the offspring of those who became a part of the American promise. a promise that every man. woman. and child could pursue fully opportunities for economic. cultural. Intellectual. religious and political growth. regretful though some manifestations of prejudice are. We are not a Nation made up of those who believe they are better than others because their forebears or they reached our shores first. The groundswell in recent days of strong support for the refugee resettlement bills we now debate reflects this. This issue is not one of emotion alone. although I am proud of those emotions in the American people which cause us to hold out a helping hand to those less fortunate than we. There is nothing at all wrong with feeling such emotion. It is the same unifying emotion which one experiences when one hears "God Bless America" and feels it. no matter what God that person might worship. There is much reason for what we are doing too. The right to emigratethe right to leave ones own countryis the most fundamental of all human rights. It is that ultimate right which must be exercised when ones other rights have been so destroyed that meaningful existence is next to impossible. This right to emigrate is recognized through and guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which the member countries of the United Nations are to adhere. It is this Declaration which has provided the leverage in international affairs to make it more possible to assure migration of Jews from the Soviet Union. as well as others who dissent from the totalatarian nature of applied communism. This right to leave has an obvious logical corollary: acceptance by another nation. It does one little good to have a right to leaveand an opportunity to leaveif one has no nation to which to migrate. While there is no obligation under international law to be a recipient of such emigrates. I believe there does exist such a moral and ethical responsibility. especially to those who flee from an aggressor viewed as our enemy as well. This right to leave is here to be honored for about 130.000 South Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees. That is not a large number of people. As a graphic demonstration. for example. all these refugees130.000would fill Rich Stadium in Orchard Park. N.Y.. less than two times. In addition. they will be settled throughout 53 States and territories of the Union. and. of course. a large number may wish to emigrate to France or Frenchspeaking lands because of the strong French cultural heritage in their homelands. When we talk about these 130.000 people. we are not talking about them competing for 130.000 American jobs either. That is unbelievably misleading.