The Senate Judiciary Committee reported favorably today an immigration bill virtually identical with that of Chairman Francis E. Walter of the House Immigration Subcommittee. The Senate group did not act on the final section of the bill in which Sen. John F. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, proposed to permit Egyptian Jews and other refugees to avail themselves of 18,000 unused visas provided under the Watkins Refugee Relief Act of 1953.
The question about such visas and the qualifications for getting them was left open for decision in the Senate-House conference. The Kennedy bill includes nine technical provisions which Rep. Walter had sponsored in the House. Some of them would make possible the reunion of families now separated because of various reasons such as the illness of relatives abroad.
Failure of the House Judiciary Committee to report out legislation regulating the status of parolees in this country and providing for admission of refugees was concerned today in a statement by Rep. Kenneth B. Keating, New York Republican. He charged that as a result, “we can no longer participate with other nations in any further humanitarian moves to help those escaping from tyranny.”
Rep. Keating welcomed the Walter Bill, which was reported out, as “a step in the right direction.” He expressed hope that Congress would act to provide “long overdue” amendment of the McCarran-Walter Immigration and Naturalization Act when it reconvenes next January. He pointed out that Rep. Francis E. Walter, chairman of the Immigration Subcommittee, had agreed to conduct full hearings in January on proposals for amendment of the immigration laws.
An aide of Sen. Kennedy said today that there were “excellent” prospects for enactment of an immigration bill before adjournment this month.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
