Rep, Emanuel Celler, New York Democrat, introduced a bill in the House of Representatives today, calling for revision of the Immigration and Naturalization Act, in line with President Johnson’s special message to Congress, proposing the elimination of the national origins quota and other defects. At the same time, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, of New York, announced that he is preparing a companion measure to present to the Upper House.
Rep. Celler, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said he will “bend every energy to the passage of a new immigration bill this year.” Mr. Kennedy declared: “Cur present immigration laws are intolerable. They reflect on us throughout the globe. They must be revised, so that all will be treated equally.”
Support for immigration law reform in accordance with President Johnson’s plan was voiced today by George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO; and New York Family Court Judge Juvenal Marchisio, President of the American Committee on Italian Migration. Representatives of many other minority groups throughout the country, including Jewish, Greek, Polish and other ethnic associations, also backed the President’s plan and the proposed Celler-Kennedy measures.
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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.
