TO AMEND THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1964 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE No. 1 OF THE The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 327, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Michael A. Feighan (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Members present: Representatives Michael A. Feighan, Frank Chelf, Peter W. Rodino, Jr., Richard H. Poff, Arch A. Moore, Jr. Staff members present: Walter Besterman, legislative assistant; and Garner J. Cline, associate counsel. Mr. FEIGHAN. The committee will come to order. Today we open the third phase of our subcommittee inquiry in accordance with a plan set forth in our original announcement of the schedule of hearings. I would like the record to show that the testimony taken from representatives at the operating level of the executive agencies was inconclusive on some points of vital interest or concern to members of the subcommittee. This is particularly true with respect to the testimony of the Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs, Department of State. It may be necessary, therefore, to interrupt the orderly schedule of hearings laid down for this phase of our inquiry in order to resume testimony from the Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs. If that becomes necessary notification will be given to witnesses scheduled and every effort will be made to minimize the inconvenience to such witnesses. With that understanding we open this phase of our hearings for representatives of nongovernmental organizations and individuals interested in the pending immigration legislation. We have scheduled every organization or individual making a written request to be heard. If we have inadvertently missed any organization or individual making such a request Miss Christy, of the subcommittee staff, should be so notified so that proper arrangements can be made forthwith in our schedule. We are privileged to have as our first witness Mr. Daniel J. O'Connor, representing the American Legion. We are also privileged to have Captain Olson present, the director of legislation for the American Legion, and we would be very pleased to have you, Captain Olson, introduce the first witness, Mr. Daniel O'Connor. STATEMENT OF CLARENCE H. OLSON, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION, THE AMERICAN LEGION Mr. OLSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Clarence H. Olson. I am the director of the legislation for the American Legion. We appreciate the opportunity you are giving us this morning, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the subcommittee, to state our views in connection with immigration as a whole problem and not from a technical point of view. The American Legion and its American Legion Auxiliary represent an active force of 312 million men and women who are dedicated to the concept "For God and Country." I believe there is a special feeling of patriotism and love of country in the hearts of those who have rendered military service in the time of war. This form of patriotism runs deep and it is only a natural sequence that we take an active interest in immigration matters. Our concern, in this area, is that our immigration laws have the basic quality of being in the best interest of our Nation. I am privileged to be associated today with such a fine American as Mr. Daniel J. O'Connor, 35-46 74th Street, Jackson Heights, N.Y. Dan is national chairman of the Americanism Commission of the American Legion. As such he heads one of the most important nationwide program activities of our organization. The Americanism commission has a positive program dedicated to the present as well as the future of our country. The activities he controls are directed in the main to the youth of our Nation in such areas as the Boy Scouts of America, the National Oratorical Contest, based upon the Constitution of the Nation; Boys' State and Boys' Nation; educational scholarships and the largest endeavor of its kind in the United States, the American Legion baseball program. As a volunteer, he devotes much of his time to these and other activities. Our youth programs are, we believe, constructive and helpful to the future of our Nation. His commission and Legionnaires across the land under his direction, also devote efforts to the diverse facets of community betterment. This includes sharing in ceremonies marking the induction of qualified aliens who proudly take the oath of allegiance to the United States for the first time, thus becoming citizens of our Republic. We look upon this as a patriotic duty and privilege, to acquaint these newest citizens with the ideals and purposes of the greatest nation on earth. Mr. Daniel J. O'Connor has an illustrious background in his chosen profession-the law. He is present Secretary of the New York City Department of Investigation. During the years 1954 to 1959 he was counsel of the Bureau of Internal Security of New York City. In these activities he has come to know something of immigration matters first hand. He received his A.B. and LL.B. from Fordham University and his L.L.M. from New York Law School. He is a veteran of World War II and the Korean conflict, having served both as an enlisted man and as an officer. We are confident of his qualification to testify before your subcommittee. As stated at the outset, Mr. Chairman, we do not pose as experts in the complicated area of immigration. We are here to express the views of the American Legion in more or less nontechnical terms. With that introduction, sir, I am now pleased to introduce our principal witness, Mr. Daniel J. O'Connor. I would like the record to show I am also accompanied by my assistant, John S. Mears, who is an attorney, and I would like permission from you to have him answer questions if necessary to do so during the course of the inquiry. Mr. FEIGHAN. Thank you. We are glad to have you, Captain Olson, and you, also, Mr. Mears. We are pleased to have the opportunity to hear the views you have at this time, Mr. O'Connor, representing the American Legion. You may proceed. STATEMENT OF DANIEL J. O'CONNOR, CHAIRMAN, NATIONAL AMERICANISM COMMISSION, THE AMERICAN LEGION Mr. O'CONNOR. Thank you. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee: On behalf of the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary, I wish to express our sincere appreciation for this opportunity to be heard on the subject of our immigration and naturalization laws; laws which have a significant and vital impact upon the culture, economy, traditions, and institutions of the United States of America. As war veterans, we have contributed to the preservation of the American way of life and we believe we have earned the right to speak out on legislation, such as is being considered here today which, if enacted, will have far-reaching effects upon the future of our Nation. In the desperate struggle to keep peace through strength, American GI's are at this moment manning the ramparts of liberty throughout the world, particularly in South Vietnam. They are there to prevent the encirclement and eventual extinction of basic human rights by a ruthless and devastating power bent on the destruction of our way of life. Lives of our young manhood are being sacrified in the defense of Western civilization which is based upon the Judaic-Christian concepts of the dignity of the individual person and the spiritual heritage of all Americans who are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We, here at home, therefore, cannot approach lightly, the task of enacting laws which may adversely affect, with a broad brush, this Nation of ours which they are so gallantly defending. What we are considering here today is not the correction of some temporary problem, which once corrected, will have no further impact upon our lives or the lives of future generations. Nor can we embark upon the course of action being contemplated with the consoling thought that if our decision proves to be in error we can rectify it at some future date, for the course of events which will follow cannot be stemmed or turned back. They will be permanent and irreversible. We appreciate the fact that there are those who disagree with us on how to best deal with immigration problems. We respect their right and concede that the vast majority of the proponents of this legislation are motivated solely by humanitarian considerations and what they believe to be the best for our Nation. However, we cannot overlook the possibility that some proponents may base their support on purely personal, political, self-serving reasons, which are real, but seldom conceded to be in that context. Our present immigration laws are based upon a policy in effect for nearly a half century. We would be among the first to agree that national policies should be reviewed from time to time, and that the need for changes in basic policy may be necessary, whether it be in the area of immigration, taxation, education, civil rights, or any of the many vital facets of the American way of life. Such changes in policy must be directed toward the welfare of the Nation as a whole, and based upon fact, not the contention, emotionalism, or purported humanitarian views of the proponents. To do so would ignore many unanswered questions, with action based solely upon a few well-sounding phrases. Such a base would, we believe, crumble like sand when exposed to the spotlight of hard, cold facts. Mr. Chairman, we submit that Congress has the constitutional right and solemn responsibility to enact legislation which is in the best interests of the United States. In exercising its judgment, Congress should not be attacked as an instrument of discrimination. We share no enthusiasm for those who make Congress a whipping post on the subject of immigration. Our present immigration system is as fair and nondiscriminatory as any in existence throughout the world today. It was devised after many years of study and experience. It was retained basically by Congress as recently as 1952, over a Presidential veto. It is hard to understand some statements of certain proponents of the legislation to the effect that the post-World War II acts of Congress in this field have repudiated our present policy; that it should, therefore, be completely repealed. The enactments by Congress to grant emergent relief to refugees and escapees should not be construed as a repudiation of the basic concepts in the McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. The national origins quota system is based solely upon the sincere belief that it is in the best interest of our country to maintain the present makeup of our cultural and social structure. But in doing so we do not close our doors to any individual no matter what his race, creed, or color. In the light of our true motive, how can anyone honestly say we are practicing discrimination? We are concerned with problems which increased immigration will aggravate at an accelerating rate as the years pass in the areas of internal security, employment, housing, natural resources, and education. How can we embark upon such a course as is proposed without giving such matters intensive study and consideration? We are also deeply concerned with the security aspects of this legislation. We are already confronted today with the problem of free movement among countries by individuals, some of which are known agents of the international Communist conspiracy, and others whose actions, for whatever motives, advance the objectives of this conspiracy. Any weakening of controls over the activities of such individuals will not be in the best interest of the United States because they advance the cause of a self-avowed enemy of our country. We are desirous of knowing how best to insure the internal security of the United States. We would also like to know what steps can be taken to prevent any person, guilty of disaffection such as the Communist-oriented Lee Harvey Oswald, from returning to our country and committing the most vicious crime of assassinating the President of the United States. If Oswald executed an affidavit affirming allegiance to the Soviet Union, why was it made so easy for him to return to the United States? What about other defectors roaming the world today? What is their status? What should it be? Mr. Chairman, we are aware of your fruitless efforts to obtain sufficient funds to activate the Joint Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy, which was created by Congress in 1952, for the specific purpose of continuous study in depth of all factors, foreign and domestic, governing immigration policies and to make such recommendations for change in policy as the facts warrant. In the light of the foregoing, we cannot understand the failure of Congress to provide funds in the rather modest sum of $160,000 for so important an undertaking. The relationship of those funds to the magnitude of the immigration problem is beyond equation. In consonance with American Legion Resolution No. 45, National Executive Committee, spring 1964, we supported your effort to obtain these essential funds. We addressed a communication to each Member of the U.S. Senate, urging appropriation of these funds and I ask that the Resolution No. 45 and letter be incorporated in the record at this point. Mr. FEIGHAN. Without objection it may be inserted. (The information referred to follows:) (Sent to all Members of U.S. Senate) THE AMERICAN LEGION, Washington, D.C., June 15, 1964. The American Legion has a continuing interest in the immigration policy and laws of this Nation. We supported the enactment of the so-called McCarranWalter Act of 1952. We appreciate the fact that the act was largely a codification of immigration and nationality laws in existence at that time, and included retention of the national origins quota system, developed in the 1920's. We are also aware of past and current criticisms of the act but we, and most citizens, are not familiar with facts that warrant wholesale revision of our immigration policy and law. Facts only should be the basis for changes. You have a factfinding vehicle already established. It is the bipartisan Joint Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy, authorized and mandated in section 401, Public Law 414, 82d Congress. Unfortunately, it is inactive because of the failure of Congress to provide it with necessary funds. Reasonable-minded persons realize that changing world and domestic conditions may require alteration of our immigration policy and law. However, I repeat, this is of such vast importance to this Nation that only the most serious consideration, based upon facts alone, justify changes in our basic immigration law. The American Legion, on the basis of attached Resolution No. 45, approved by its national executive committee, April 30-May 1, 1964, urges your support toward the fulfillment of the request of the chairman of the Joint Committee on Immigration and Nationality Policy for the comparatively small sum of $160.000 that was defeated in the House, on a nonrecord tie vote, when H.R. 10723 was considered on April 10, 1964. The availability of these funds would permit study, in depth, of all factors that should be considered in this important matter. Sincerely yours, CLARENCE H. OLSON, Director. |