Hearings on the Stratton Bill to admit into the United States 100,000 displaced persons annually for a period of four years continued today before the House Sub-Committee on Immigration, with Rep. Jacob Javits of New York and Rep. Mitchel Jenkins of Pennsylvania speaking in favor of the bill.
Opposing the bill were Geroge W. Williams, who spoke in behalf of the Society of 1812 in Maryland, and Merwin K. Hart, president of the National Economic Council. Rep. John D. Lesinski of Michigan, former chairman of the House Immigration Committee, supported the bill “with qualifications.” He said that of 82,000 visas issued during one year, 43,000 had been issued to members of Jewish faith.
He revealed that he had written to the White House on Dec, 5, 1946 complaining about the situation and received a reply stating that he had been “misinformed” about the quota numbers being given largely to Jewish DP’s, and that the policy was to give all faiths an equal share of quota numbers.
Lesinski said he wrote again to the President on Dec. 12, and on Dec. 18 and received the reply that there was “no need for further conversation on the subject.” But, Lesinski shouted, “I was right and Mr. President was wrong.”
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.
