$3D CONGRESS 1st Session

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SENATE

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REPORT No. 544

N. A. G. L. MOERINGS, MRS. BERTHA JOHANNA KRAYENBRINK MOERINGS, AND LAMBERTUS KAREL ALOYSIUS JOSEF MOERINGS

JULY 14 (legislative day, JULY 6), 1953.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. LANGER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 665]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 665) for the relief of N. A. G. L. Moerings, Mrs. Bertha Johanna Krayenbrink Moerings, and Lambertus Karel Aloysius Josef Moerings, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of the bill is to grant the status of permanent residence in the United States to N. A. G. L. Moerings, Mrs. Bertha Johanna Krayenbrink Moerings, and Lambertus Karel Aloysius Josef Moerings. The bill provides for appropriate quota deductions and for the payment of the required visa fees.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The beneficiaries of the bill are husband and wife and minor child, natives and citizens of the Netherlands, who were last admitted to the United States as visitors in 1950. Mr. Moerings is the manager in the United States for a Holland company which manufactures fishing and shrimping nets and it is stated that his work is very important to the fishing industry in this country.

A letter, with attached memorandum, dated March 24, 1953, to the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives from the Acting Commissioner of Immigration with reference to the case reads as follows:

MARCH 24, 1953.

Hon. CHAUNCEY W. REED,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, Washington, D. C.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In response to your request of the Department of Justice for a report relative to the bill (H. R. 665) for the relief of N. A. G. L. Moerings, Mrs. Bertha Johanna Krayenbrink Moerings, and Lambertus Karel_Aloysius Josef Moerings, there is annexed a memorandum of information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service files concerning the beneficiaries.

The bill would grant the aliens permanent residence in the United States upon payment of the required visa fee. It also would direct that three quota numbers be deducted from the appropriate immigration quota.

Since the aliens are chargeable to the quota for the Netherlands, which is oversubscribed, immigrant visas are not readily obtainable.

Sincerely,

Acting Commissioner.

MEMORANDUM OF INFORMATION FROM IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE FILES RE N. A. G. L. MOERINGS, MRS. BERTHA JOHANNA KRAYENBRINK MOERINGS, AND LAMBERTUS ALOYSIUS JOSEF MOERINGS, BENEFICIARIES OF H. R. 665

Mr. and Mrs. Moerings and their son, Lambertus, are natives and citizens of the Netherlands who were born on August 7, 1909, October 5, 1924, and October 11, 1946, respectively. Mr. Moerings' only arrival in the United States occurred at the port of New York on July 22, 1950, when he was admitted as a temporary visitor until October 22, 1950. He has been granted several extensions of his temporary stay, the last of which will expire on September 19, 1953. Mrs. Moerings and their son arrived in the United States at the port of New York on September 20, 1950, when they were admitted as temporary visitors until March 19, 1951. They have been granted extensions whih will expire on September 19, 1953. Mrs. Moerings testified that she came to the United States with her son for the purpose of being with her husband.

Mr. Moerings testified that he was in Holland during World War II, that he was an active member of the Dutch underground for 4 years during the German occupation of the Netherlands, and served as a Dutch Secret Service officer in the Allied Army until the end of the war.

On March 5, 1951, this Service granted Mr. Moerings permission to accept employment as manager in the United States for the von Zeppelin Co., N. V., of Apeldoorn, Holland. In this capacity he receives a salary of $450 per month. He has testified that he entered the United States as a representative of the aforementioned company for the purpose of expanding the operations of such company to the United States. The firm manufactures fishing and shrimping nets made from raw materials exported from the United States. According to Mr. Moerings, his company is planning to establish a factory in this country so that additional territory in Central and South America may be served.

Congressman Charles E. Bennett, the author of the bill, appeared before a subcommittee of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and made the following statement:

STATEMENT OF CHARLES E. BENNETT, MEMBER OF CONGRESS, IN RE H. R. 665

I deeply appreciate the action of this subcommittee in granting this hearing on H. R. 665, for the relief of the Moerings family. Mr. Moerings is here with me this morning; and with the permission of the subcommittee I have asked him to say a few words after I have concluded my testimony.

The chairman of the full committee, Congressman Reed, in his letter to me of March 26, 1953, suggested that Mr Moerings might be eligible for a first preference visa under section 203 (a) (1) and section 205 of the Immigration and Nationality Act We have looked into this possibility and find that this approach is not available, as shown by letter to me from Mr. W. B. Thomas, officer in charge of the Jacksonville immigration office, dated April 22, 1953, which I am submitting herewith. Nor can Mr. Moerings be given the status of a trade-treaty alien, since there is no treaty with the Netherlands and no prospect of one in the near future as shown by April 21, 1953, letter to me from the State Department which

I am submitting herewith. Therefore, it seems that we must ask that this bill be passed to permit the Moerings family to immigrate.

There are a number of reasons supporting Mr. Moerings' desire to immigrate outside the quota. The statements which I will make about this case are supported by detailed correspondence available for the committee's study. In the first place, I would like to point out that Mr. Moerings has a good record of fighting against totalitarian ideologies. Between 1940 and 1944 he was in the Dutch underground. Thereafter, after the liberation of his native country, he was in the Allied Army as a Dutch secret service officer. After the war, he was engaged in secret anti-Communist activity. In this connection, I am submitting a letter from Mr. Moerings to me dated February 10, 1952. and a letter from Superintendent of Police (of Haarlem, Holland) W. J. Gorter. The letter from Police Superintendent Gorter is particularly valuable in explaining Mr. Moerings' activity along this line. I would also like to call attention to the passage near the bottom of page 3 of Mr. Moerings' letter. From these it appears that Mr. Moerings' life might be in danger because of his anti-Communist activity if he should have to return to the Netherlands.

The second reason supporting Mr. Moerings' desire to immigrate is the benefit to American economic interests resulting from his presence in this country. It appears that Mr. Moerings' company is conducting research and experiments which may be helpful to the American fishing industry. A detailed explanation of this is found on page 2 of Mr. Moerings' letter. Further substantiation is found in eight letters from American fishing concerns, submitted herewith. Typical of these letters are the following statements:

From Mr. Louis Guthrie, of Guthrie Net Works, Morehead City, N. C.: "He is constantly working for introducing new inventions and improvements and has already done our fishery a lot of good."

From Mr. George L. Lewis, of Lewis Sporting Goods Co., Pascagoula, Miss.: "I am convinced that Mr. Moerings is of great importance to our industry. At the present time he is trying to improve the lot of the small-business man shrimper here on the gulf coast by lowering the cost of production. His new types of shrimp trawls may well prove a great boon to our industry and result in lower costs to both producer and consumer

Mr Jack LaNasa, of the La Nasa Hardware Co., New Orleans, says that Mr. Moerings "would be an asset to this country.'

Letters in similar vein are from Mr. S. Ursino, St. Augustine, Fla.; Mr. S. Daniels, St. Augustine Fisheries; Mr Tom Smoot, South Fish Co., Fort Myers, Fla.: Mr. S. Salvador, of St. Augustine and Mr. R. W. Taylor of the company by that name in Morehead City, N. C.

A further economic interest of our country which is served by Mr. Moerings' presence here is the market for American raw cotton which is opened up by operations of his company. Mr Moerings tells me that because of the dollar shortage, the Dutch Government will only allow them to use dollars for the purchase of raw cotton in this country to the extent that it has American sales. It is my understanding that one of the principal reasons why Mr. Moerings was sent to this country was to obtain American dollars with which to continue purchases of the American cotton which is used in the fishing nets which his company manufacturers. Of course, some of this cotton comes back into this country, in the form of the finished product, but Mr. Moerings has advised me that his company's finished nets made out of American cotton are sold in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. From this it can be seen that Mr. Moerings' sales efforts here make American dollars which are used to purchase American cotton which finds a market throughout the world in the form of his company's nets.

A third reason for favorable consideration of this legislation is the importance of Mr. Moerings' permanent residence to the economic recovery of his native country. This is closely related to the second reason given above inasmuch as a decline of American sales will not only cause a decrease in American cotton exports but will also cause his company's factories to be idle for lack of American cotton. Further details on this will be found in his said letter to me, submitted herewith, and in the letter to me from the Netherlands Embassy, submitted herewith.

The last and strongest reason supporting Mr. Moerings' desire to immigrate outside the quota, however, is that it appears that he and his family would be desirable American citizens. I am submitting letters in his behalf which I have received from a number of residents of Jacksonville, Fla, in which judgment I have great confidence. Here are some sample quotations from these letters: Mr. Ray Burleson says:

"*** He has proven himself a good Christian man who would be a real credit to the United States."

Mr. Leo T. Bowles says:

"I certainly endorse him very warmly; he *** would be a credit to us as a citizen."

The Right Reverend Monsignor Patrick E. Nolan says:

"I know him personally and consider him a very high-class type of man." In addition to the letters I have already submitted, I am pleased to submit now a letter to the chairman from our able colleague, the Honorable Graham Barden. In addition to the above, Senator Spessard L. Holland wrote to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in connection with the case, as follows:

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY,

May 26, 1953. Re: H. R. 665, a bill for the relief of N. A. G. L. Moerings, Mrs. Bertha Johanna Krayenbrink Moerings, and Lambertus Karel Aloysius Josef Moerings. Hon. WILLIAM LANGER,

Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

DEAR SENATOR LANGER: The above bill for the relief of N. A. G. L. Moerings, Mrs. Bertha Johanna Krayenbrink Moerings, and Lambertus Karel Aloysius Josef Moerings, was introduced in the House by Hon. Charles E. Bennett, Congressman from the Second District of Florida, and was passed by the House on May 19 by unanimous consent. I am most anxious to have early consideration of this bill by the Senate and will appreciate anything that can be done to expedite its consideration by the Judiciary Committee.

Mr. Moerings is the only United States representatives of an important Dutch factory which has over 1,000 employees, and it is vital that this factory have an experienced representative in the United States if it is to carry forward its operations. The activities of this industry are contributing to the development of the great fishing industry in the United States and also constitutes a market for American cotton with which it makes nets and yarn for export not only to the United States but to markets in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

I am sure that every member of this family will make a good citizen of this country and that each will make a contribution to the welfare of the community in which the family resides. I am sure your committee has much information and material concerning this family, but I will be glad to supply additional information upon your request.

In my opinion this is a very meritorious case, and I will certainly appreciate your cooperation in obtaining early consideration of H. R. 665. With kind regards, I remain,

Yours faithfully,

SPESSARD L. HOLLAND.

The committee, after consideration of all the facts in the case, is of the opinion that the bill (H. R. 665) should be enacted.

JULY 14 (legislative day, JULY 6), 1953.-Ordered to be printed

Mr. LANGER, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the

following

REPORT

(To accompany H. R. 674]

The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 674) for the relief of Irene F. M. Boyle, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of the bill is to grant the status of permanent residence in the United States to Irene F. M. Boyle. The bill provides for an appropriate quota deduction and for the payment of the required visa fee.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The beneficiary of the bill is a 58-year-old native of Australia and citizen of Great Britain who has been in the United States since 1930 as an employee of various British Ambassadors. She is now retired and has an income for life from a trust fund which provides sufficient income for her needs.

A letter, with attached memorandum, dated May 6, 1953, to the chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives from the Commissioner of Immigration with reference to the case, reads as follows:

Hon. CHAUNCEY W. REED,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,

House of Representatives, l'ashington, D. C.

MAY 6, 1953.

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In response to your request of the Department of Justice for a report relative to the bill (H. R. 674) for the relief of Irene F. M. Boyle there is annexed a memorandum of information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service files concerning the beneficiary.