Since then it has a long history of social activism. That, he has a phd in history and has written a number of books on American Jewish history, and a number of scholarly articles as well as articles in the more popular press. I had the honor of coauthoring an article with lance on the Huffington Post this year on the brandeis confirmation, which we are also celebrating this year. Before introducing lamp, and this is one of the great virtues of being the conference coordinator, i can add you to program whenever i want and i just want to add one footnote, because i think it is relevant to everything we will be talking in 1866day, and that is ago congress, 150 years when congress was debating what becomes the 14th amendment, it against by saying all persons born or nationalized in the United States and subject to their jurisdiction are citizens of the United States. Atre was a strong attempt the delegations of california and oregon to amend that to say all persons except chinese would be citizens of the United States. To the great credit of the United States congress, then in the hands of the antislavery Republican Party that had just led the nation to both saving the nation and ending slavery, the majority of congress simply said no, all persons means all tosons and we are not going get into the business of excluding particular groups of people. That in part explains the subsequent conflict over chinese immigration and chinese rights, because the 14th amendment met that their children would be citizens of the United States even when the naturalization laws prohibited them from being naturalized. One final footnote on that before i bring on lance, during world war i Congress Passed a law that said if you were an honorably discharged veteran you could become a citizen of the United States automatically. Toyota versus the United States in the 1920s, the Supreme Court ruled that that was true except for immigrants from east asia, china, and japan who could not become citizens, even as in the case they had served honorably in the coast guard and navy. We have had a kind of distinct prejudice against people from east asia and only in the post1965 world have we changed. Now i would like to introduce Lance Sussman who will talk to and how ite 1924 act relates ultimately to the 1965 civil immigration act. Lance, inlso add that addition to being a rabbi and a historian, has taught at a number of institutions including Hunter College and princeton when he is not busy writing sermons. He is busy writing lectures. Rabbi sussman i do not have time to write. I just wing them. I want to thank the United StatesCapitol Historical Society for the opportunity to thek today, especially wonderful staff and the chair of the symposium, and my friend mr. Finkelman. Paul and i have been friends for many years and currently are collaborating on a number of of which this is a particularly important one. It is a special honor for me to be here and have an opportunity to share my thoughts about one of this countrys most political important political issues. It affects the lives of millions of people in this country and around the world, which is the issue of immigration. I would like to read it in a contextger complex that immigration has played a historically human important human role in human history. The movement of Indigenous People to the western hemisphere, the celts into europe, movement of central asians into india are all typical of our migratory species. Surprisingly, there are a number of competing theories from economic clientbased which has helped to explain the Mass Movement of entire peoples within various regions, nations, and continents. Immigration, sanctuary, diaspora, and rescue operations present numerous challenges to national and International Systems of law, and seriously test the proposition that every person has inalienable rights. We migrate because we are human and our individual collective humanity invariably is tested when we migrate. Then, thesingly regulation of migration by the modern nationstate is complex and pits economic, cultural, and legal factors against one another. Andtries promote blocking selectively control immigration. Celebrated or be vilified but never ignored. It is also a very important matter to me. Immigrants story is central to my narrative as a person and determinative in my choice of careers and historical work. My paternal grandfather arrived in this country from czarist russia as a child. He had no money, no education, and no skills. Sussman m of20s emerged as one of the most out coming jewish delicatessens in baltimore. Instead, he ended up living a solidly middleclass American Life and was the father of sons who one combat medals for bravery during world war ii and korea. His mothers story is more harrowing. She came to america alone at the age of 13 and september 1938 for not to germany. , her parentslnacht and little brother eventually joined her. They were obviously the lucky ones. Had american relatives that signed papers for them, highlevel political conventions, sufficient funds, any Transatlantic Network to get them into this country. The story that really shapes me is a different one. After arriving safely in america in 1939, my maternal grandfather worked tirelessly to bring others out of nazi germany, even returned to germany after the nazi attack on poland to try and save others. Except for his own family, he totally failed. The friends he sought to save were all slaughtered. Money and political connections were not enough. Indifference and even hostility within the American Jewish community, the german jews, sealed the fate of those he sought to save. You cannot save every third cousin, one rabbi told my grandfather. He vowed in turn to spit on the graves of that clergymen. In time, he did. Immigration is a difficult undertaking. It requires courage, fortitude, wayss, connections, luck, of thinking that value the stranger and the dispossessed in danger, and sometimes the hopeless. The value of them as equal to those who are secure and. Ndisturbed it requires an incredible fate in the humanity of the storm tossed and distorted that they to be given a chance, that they will add to the richness of a host society and not be a burden or threat. Ae such individual who was true champion of the immigrant and particularly the refugee, a person who had incredible faith in the humanity and capacity of the storm tossed was representative emanuel cellar, democrat of brooklyn. He alone was present in the house of representatives both when the doors of america closed in 1924 and again when they began to reopen after world war ii. More than anyone else, he was responsible for the content of the immigration act of 1965, which bears his name and is the symbolic anchor of this symposium that we are at the 50th anniversary. We could take a quick look at several aspects of mr. Cellar. His own story, his reaction to ,he 1924 National Origins acts his participation in the culture and dynamics of the house, his relentless struggle during the holocaust for rescue, and finally, his combination of Immigration Law with civil rights. Manny cellar, he was born in brooklyn, new york in 1888. His father was a whiskey maker in echo springs. They had a big fat in the basement of their home. In the basement of their home. He had three jewish and one catholic grandparent. My grandfather catholic, my grandmother jewish. Crossing over from bavaria the ship started to sink. My grandmother jumped overboard. My father followed to say this girl yet never met. Later of course they married as he said, here i am. To a certain extent the business of immigration and rescue became the major themes of his life. Out important to point a cultural jew but did not attend synagogue. At 18 years of age and important event happen. His father took him to hear William Jennings bryans beat and apparently it was a lifechanging moment. Education a rigorous but soon after entering college he ran into major family problems. His father died and five months left, his mother died, and him in charge of the Family Business and going to school at the same time. Despite the circumstances, he stayed on track. He graduated from Columbia University in 1910 and went to columbia law, admitted to the bar in 1912. Married in 1914 to stella bar. They had two girls. One daughter had cerebral policy and the other survived him. He claims he became a zionist and jewish nationalist in favor of jewish statehood and palestine and he made good on that commitment throughout his political career. , he world war i broke out was working on a draft appeal board in new york city when he caught the attention of Democratic Party officials in the city. They asked him to run for congress and he ran a doortodoor campaign. He was elected to the united tents congress under the Congressional District which changed many times over his career. Antiprohibition platform in a district heavily. Opulated by immigrants he was in the house of representatives longer than almost anyone else in the history of the house. Under president harding and was still in the house when president ford came to the white house. He was known for quick wit, a ,ove of music, especially opera and he would do part a chairs for children. He also had enough of pithy sayings. To be a successful congressman, he once said, one must have the friendliness of a child, the enthusiasm of a teenager, the assurance of a college boy, the diplomacy of a wayward husband, the curiosity of a cat, and the good humor of an idiot. Sounds like a prescription for success. Cellar took his seat in the house and took an instant disliking to the culture of the hill. When he was down here he lived in the mayflower hotel. The first thing he heard as a junior freshman congressman was the debate over National Origins , and it shook him to his core. He was deeply upset by what he essentiallyen spent the next 50 years of his life trying to reverse it. The world changed not only for manny but for everyone else in 1929 with the crash of the stock market and the rise of the power of adolf hitler, which put into immigrationle new crisis of jews from germany, austria, and central europe. It is quite remarkable to note that in the very active world of holocaust history, and particularly in the assessments of the role of the United States in rescue of Holocaust Victims and potential victims, that there is only one person in the entire literature which is mostly tremendously negative, who consistently gets good marks , even for the strongest critics of american behavior during this period. Scholars like david wyman and llar is theoff, ce only one they say never lost his moral compass. As we go through the highlights and low lights, he does train his attention on the issue of rescue and works at it despite essentially no success whatsoever. In terms major event of the United States trying to deal with holocaust immigrants conference evian in france. Reaction was to simply get unused quota is filled in the United States. The problem accelerated with kristallnacht, great knocks the 1938ess nazi pogrom of after which immigration from germany accelerates. There was an attempt to enact to allow jewish children to come to the United States but it completely failed. For when fdr allowed allowing germans beyond the quota, he received praise from seller but he was unable to get a very complicated decision all the way around. Trying to open other avenues, he wrote to core help cordell hall at state and it began a 45 year process which ultimately resulted in full diplomatic relations with the holy see in 1984 past his career. For the United States, the situation in europe and the pacific changes with the japanese attack of pearl harbor in december 1941. This then brought the United States directly into the war and more directly into the problems of refugees coming out of europe and particular, the focus of my discussion. A very important event happens in the American Jewish community that is not in my attention adequately understood or prioritized. That is a meeting in new york city at the Biltmore Hotel in may 1942 in which a conscious decision was made at that time to of course embrace the win the war strategy as the number one priority, but then in terms of within the Jewish Community the number one strategy internal to the community would be jewish statehood in palestine. The conscious decision was then to relegate rescue to the third level, that that was not going to be the primary interest of the community. Lar himself, he could not accept that and deprioritizing. He immediately got to work in different areas. He learns that like everyone by the telegram about the final solution, and there was a particular issue about the jews in france. He tries to work toward regulation to bring the jews of france to the United States through exceptions, but again it fails. The year 1943 was perhaps the darkest hours. It was during this time that all avenues of escape were essentially blocks and in europe europe, theand in genocide hit a high point. Celler and others regularly went to the white house trying to argue the case for relaxation of restrictions to the United States and get the bridge into reverse the white paper in palestine. He also worked with various rallies that were held in Madison Square garden and elsewhere. The highlight or actually the low light of 1943 with respect to rescue operations was the socalled Bermuda Conference. The Bermuda Conference was called specifically to deal with the question of jewish immigration and rescue. It was supported by cellers principle nemesis, another jewish congressman from new york city representing the upper east side, representative bloom. Later when on to distant wish went on to distant wish distinguish himself and his work for the establishment of the united nations. Bloom upheld what happened at bermuda or rather what did not happen at bermuda as being adequate and celler did not. In his own style, celler referred to the Bermuda Conference as a blooming fiasco. In essence, no progress was made at all. By the end of the year, he was openly calling from the floor of the house for the resignation of the assistant secretary of state, breckenridge who was the biggest blocker of all inside the state at this time. In 1944, i would say the situation became too little too late. The very beginning of the war, the urging of secretary of treasury, the war refugee was established in the United States and a small plan for rescue was put into place but not really enacted upon. In essence, only about 900 individuals were relocated to a refugee camp in upstate new york. The end of the war did not bring relief to the situation. This was a particularly troubling part of the story for me. If you look into the literature of the holocaust and go to the holocaust museum, the National HolocaustMemorial Museum of far not far from where we are this morning, very often you see pictures of american troops liberating the camps, eisenhower insisting american troops witness it. The troops are smiling and the survivors are smiling it looks like everything is hunkydory. That could not be further from the truth. American immigration policy was still in place by the end of world war ii and there was little interest in relaxing it, even for the survivors of the camp. President truman sends the dean of the university of Pennsylvania Law School to serve by the situation in europe. Survey the situation in europe. His name was earl g. Harrison, and he writes a scathing report that in germany itself, the American Military greatly favors the german citizens over the , that they are getting all of these supplies, and that, in fact, with the exception, these are his words, except for shooting the people in the camp, there is very little difference in the behavior of the American Military and their former nazi bosses inside the camp. There was a failed attempt to soften restrictive legislation for the d. P. s in 1946. The one place where celler does have some success, and it does become an important precedent, allowing filipino americans to come to the United States. To say that they were limited is one of the greatest understatements in history. They were allowed a few number of visas, but it did represent an opening. In 1948, the state of israel is established, and the pressure is taken off the absorption of the d. P. s, who are still in Holding Camps in cyprus and other places. Celler at this point has one of his great successes, and s, a fewhis effort thousand d. P. s are brought to United States, and it is difficult to determine peoples religion, and the law was again amended in 1952 allow an additional 100,000. By the time the hartceller act is enacted, there are about 600,000 Holocaust Survivors in the United States as a result of cellers work. He then went to the Judiciary Committee and remained in that position until 1973, and that would put him in a key position for a number of legislative efforts, including legislation. In 1952, the congress of the United States passes the immigration and nationality act, which essentially reinforces the 1924 legislation. It was vetoed by truman by that time probably the most unpopular president in american history, according to the polls, which, of course, had him defeated anyway, and National Origins was reestablished. Once he is in this position in judiciary, celler begins to turn his attention to civil rights legislation, and he plays a major role in all of the major components of civil rights. He never gives up on his struggle for the immigrants and the relaxation of National Origins. As Paul Finkelman pointed out, senator john kennedy and others made that linkage, particularly in the late 1950s, and kennedy continue to talk about the linkage during his time in the white house. The High Water Mark for celler was the passage of the hartceller act of 1965, which is one of the great turning points of American Immigration history. His story, his experience, his knowledge of the house all played a significant role in how that legislation was actually shaped. There is a debate that we will hear more about as to whether or not the effects were intended or unintended. People who write about intent to call of the law of unintended consequences. National origins is not removed entirely, although the old system is circumscribed. In particular, it will allow for unrestricted family reunification and to some extent political sanctuary. For the first time, it in acts it enacts some limits on immigration within north america and effects wages. It did discriminate openly gay people from coming to the United States. The ceremonies that did surround it are very curious, indeed. Beginning with lbj, including ted kennedy, they all gave the same speech, basically, that this law, the hartceller act on immigration, will not change the United States. They kept talking to the public, fearful of xenophobia, assuring them it was a technicality and that nothing really was going to change, that i suppose without saying the words based on 1924, america would remain an anglosaxon country. As recently as october 2015, the Atlantic Monthly came out with an article titled the immigration act which inadvertently changed america. Despite everything ted kennedy and lbj and others had to say, it really did mark the beginning of a very different time period in america with respect to the complexion of immigration to this country. However, it is also a danger of overestimating what this bill did. It is a turning point, but it is not the battle of gettysburg. There are other things that happened afterwards that changed the nature of immigration, and as we saw in the 1950s, forwards and backwards. He is defeated. Celler is defeated by liz holtzman. He felt he had inherited his seat. He had been a solid liberal democrat since 1923, but his radar failed to pick up the new role of feminism in american politics. He was not particular leave vigorous in his efforts for the era, and when he heard that Elizabeth Holtzman was running against him, he said she was a hangnail, and he would bite her off. She won. There was a situation with Andrew Clayton powell, one of the major riders of the gun control act, a man who really had a tremendous career in congress, to say the least one of the Major Writers of the gun control act. He is there eight is survived by his one daughter he is buried in new york and survived by his one daughter, jane. And the ethnic connection, in his career, he was able to get legislation for the continued operation of the semetic division of the library of congress, which today is one of the finest collections. I think they summarize how he felt about himself and immigration. The first is, on the one hand, we publicly pronounce the quality of all peoples. On the other hand, in our Immigration Laws, we embrace and practice these very theories we abhor and verbally condemn, and finally, in an interview conducted after voted out of office, looking backwards, he said, i fought against the unjust restriction of immigration in the United States. Thank you. [applause] questions and general rebuttal. A mic is coming. So, i would like to know if eisenhower was aware of how the jews who had been released or escaped how did eisenhower react, and did he know, and how could that have happened . Is there an explanation for who was responsible . Rabbi sussman well, we know at the end of the war, when american troops go into the camps and liberate some of the camps, he himself witnessed it. He issued orders that people of his staff and the American Military in general should witness it, so they saw it, it was so that they would be witnesses so they saw it. They would be witnesses. This was to make the case that sacrifices were worth it. A lot of people had died. A lot of american soldiers, military personnel, had died, and it proved the cruelty of the nazi system, so they did that. We know that on the other side of europe, the soviets were very actively exploiting their own liberation of the camps for their own purposes. I do not think the americans were quite as machiavellian, but they did use these photo ops, and they did become defining in american culture, that america was the good guy and the liberator of the camp, and with the end of the fighting, everything was ok. Eisenhower is contradictory in his behavior. On the one hand, he will work with celler for exceptions. On the other hand, he does not initiate any kind of effort to change Immigration Law because of the holocaust experience, not the only experience, obviously, but it was a very dramatic one, and it involved a massive genocide, so that is how he engages it. It is not at the core of his presidency. I think truman was more moved by it personally than eisenhower. Eisenhower also had to try to shape american foreignpolicy toward israel, and it was a very cool relationship at that time. There was no special relationship between the state of israel and the United States in the 1950s under eisenhower. Truman had to play off of both the state department and defense that said that israel was a bad bet for the United States, and he was afraid that israel, being a socialist state, would go over to stalin, and he was looking for a way to contain it, so he supported maybe a little bit of nostalgia from sunday school as a boy. Eisenhower took a military look support withanced the growing need for cooperation with the saudis, so he did not see that as part of the response to the holocaust, which becomes part of the narrative much later. In general, in the United States, i do not think holocaust as a cultural field of study or a phenomenon is particularly significant until the late 1960s. There were survivors they had practical problems, but there was nothing like what we have today with special holidays and holocaust study programs, and it was shunned by the American Jewish community as well. The culture was not there. It was a war where people got killed, and a was particularly and there was particularly nasty stuff going on. This is one of the things that makes celler special, that he was sensitive to the plight of the refugee and of the survivor, and without the context of the holocaust as a cultural category nevertheless was a soldier on behalf of the distressed. We are bringing mics. You will let me know what my timeframe is. This may be too narrow