Congressional Record Reprint, Speech of Senator Herbert Lehman

(Not printed at Government expense) Congressional Record United States PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 82d CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION of America The Immigration Bill Veto SPEECH sion. It is not a concession; it is not codifies the whole body of our immigration, OF an advance; it is an insult and a step naturalization and nationality statutes-but HON. HERBERT H. LEHMAN which we certainly should not recognize it reenacts much that is bad in existing law with any sense of gratitude. and in many instances makes it worse. It OF NEW YORK continues the antiquated quota system Mr. President, in the Senate there are IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES (based on 1920 figures) it preserves and in men who descended from many nation- some cases accentuates distinctions founded Friday, June 27, 1952 al and racial strains-English, Irish, solely on race; it runs counter to funda- Mr. LEHMAN. Mr. President, there Italian, Scandinavian, Dutch, German, mental American concepts of justice; it are two particular claims made with French and many others. Each one of emphasizes the differentiation between nat- reference to this bill. One is that the the three great religious faiths is repre- uralized and native-born citizens; it wit- committee and its staff have worked on sented here. lessly plays straight into the hands of our it for 3 years. Of course, I greatly re- Would anyone dare in his conscience Communist enemies. It is, in short, racist, spect the amount of work which has claim that because of any national restrictionist and reactionary. In the in- terests of American self-respect and in con- gone into the preparation of the bill, but strain or religious affiliation, one Sena- formity with American foreign policy the it does not seem to me that the time tor or group of Senators were more loyal veto ought to be sustained. devoted to a bill should be controlling to our country, more devoted to its we1- in the consideration of the merits of the fare, more sincere in protecting its in- AMERICA EDITORIAL bill. The Senator from Vermont [Mr. terest, than are other Senators? So it is in the country as a whole. Mr. President, I desire to read in part AIKEN] and I have been working on the Our strength, our prosperity, our ad- from an editorial appearing in the latest St. Lawrence seaway and water-power issue of America, a national Catholic project for 30 years, when it came up vance in the arts and sciences, our in the Senate a few days ago I did not progress in industry, our spiritual lead- weekly review, one of the great publica- feel that we should demand that the ership, our military genius-none of tions of this country, in regard to the President's veto of the immigration bill. Senate support our position merely be- these is the product exclusively of one It reads as follows: cause we had been working on it for 30 racial or national strain or of one re- ligious faith. We in the United States President Truman's message of June 25 years. vetoing the McCarran-Walter omnibus im- The other claim is that the bill gives have grown strong because of the flow migration bill should have removed all recognition to Orientals. It is true of sturdy immigrants who with their doubts about the grave mistakes in this re- that there has been some recognition descendants have brought strength and strictive and reactionary piece of legislation. accorded them, but it is very niggardly prosperity and security to this country. recognition, for under the bill only 100 Every race, every nationality has con- The national-origins quota system of the persons can come into the United States tributed to the welfare and the strength McCarran bill, as the President declared, as- each year from China or India or the of our country. sumes that Americans of English, Irish, and Philippines, and the entire immigra- German descent make better United States NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL tion from that great expanse called the citizens than those of Italian, Polish, Greek, or other descent. When we want allies to Asiatic-Pacific triangle is limited to an Mr. President, I desire to read from fight side by side with us against Commu- aggregate of 2,000 a year, in spite of the two editorials which have come to my nists, we welcome Italians, Greeks, and fact that that triangle is populated by notice in regard to the bill. One is Turks. But when we revise our immigration more than a billion persons. If that is from the New York Times of June 26, policy, we tell such peoples that they are not recognition, if that is a concession, then 1952, entitled "A Wise Veto," which the stuff of which red-blooded Americans I certainly do not agree with it. It reads as follows: are made. seems to me it is an insult to say that A WISE VETO That charge, I may say parentheti- not more than 100 persons from the The McCarran anti-immigration bill, full cally, has been applied on the floor of the Philippine Islands can come to the of hatreds, fears and prejudices that have Senate. United States. The Philippine people no proper place in American legislation, I continue to quote from the editorial: have been great friends and allies of richly deserves the veto that President Tru- This is a narrow-minded, nationalistic, and ours. An official protest was lodged man courageously has given it. doldw discriminatory attitude. It reflects a throw- with the State Department by the Phil- The measure admittedly has good fea- back to the isolationism of a generation ago. ippine Government against that provi- tures-no the least being the fact that it It raises havoc with our transformed foreign 214153-43738