Mr. MCCARRAN, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1280] The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill (S. 1280) for the relief of Peng-siu Mei, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. AMENDMENT Strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That notwithstanding the provisions of section 2 of the Act of December 17, 1943, as amended (57 Stat. 601; 60 Stat. 975, 8 U. S. C. 212 (a)), the minor child, Peng-siu Mei may be admitted to the United States as a nonquota immigrant if such alien is otherwise admissible under the immigration laws. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of the bill, as amended, is to provide for the admission into the United States as a nonquota immigrant of Peng-siu Mei. His mother is a former citizen of the United States and his three sisters are native-born citizens of the United States. STATEMENT OF FACTS The beneficiary of the bill was born in Shanghai, China, on November 27, 1937. His father was a native-born Chinese subject and his mother, Mrs. Kwang-Ti Mei, was a native-born citizen of the United States who lost her citizenship by her marriage in 1927. The three citizen children of Mrs. Kwang-Ti Mei are presently in the United States attending school. The father of the beneficiary of the bill died in 1945 and under the provisions of section 317 of the Nationality Act of 1940, Mrs. Kwang-Ti Mei is eligible to return to the United States and regain her citizenship. She is reluctant to leave the beneficiary of the bill in China and the bill would enable the minor child to accompany his mother to the United States. A letter dated September 7, 1951, to the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary from the Deputy Attorney General with reference to the case reads as follows: Hon. PAT MCCARRAN, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. SEPTEMBER 7, 1951. MY DEAR SENATOR: This is in response to your request for the views of the Department of Justice relative to the bill (S. 1280) for the relief of Peng-Siu Mei, an alien. The bill would provide that, for the purposes of sections 4 (a) and 9 of the Immigration Act of 1924, as amended, the minor child, Peng-Siu Mei, shall be considered to be the natural-born alien child of citizens of the United States. The files of the Immigration and Naturalization Service of this Department disclose that the alien child was born in Shanghai, China, on November 27, 1937, and is presently residing with his mother in Macao, near Hong Kong, which is under the Government of Portugal. Mrs. Kwang-Ti Mei, the mother of the alien child, was born in the United States at Santa Barbara, Calif., on July 26, 1898, but lost her United States citizenship through her marriage in Shanghai, China, in 1927, to Kwang-Ti Mei, a native and citizen of China. Information furnished by Charles S. Gardner, of Cambridge, Mass., who is a native and citizen of the United States, is to the effect that he and the father of Peng-Siu Mei, were former colleagues, that the child's father left the United States in 1934 to return to China, taking with him his family, which then consisted of his wife and three daughters, that in China the father was a professor of English literature at the National University of Chekiang and later served as dean and as a university representative of the People's Political (Advisory) Council in the Nationalist Government, and that Mr. Mei died in China in December, 1945. Mr. Gardner stated that the daughters, who were born in Boston, Mass., returned to the United States in 1949 and now attend schools in the United States under scholarships or with scholarship help and also earn funds by teaching or otherwise. He advised that the alien child's mother is a teacher at institutions located in Macao and desires to return to the United States, that she holds a master's degree from Radcliffe College and is prepared to support herself, and that he, Mr. Gardner, is in a position to lend financial assistance to Mrs. Mei if she should need the same. Mrs. Mei apparently is eligible for admission to the United States in order to seek a determination of citizenship status, but has no place to leave her son while she does so. Peng-Siu is chargeable to the quota for Chinese persons, which quota is oversubscribed, and an immigration visa is not readily obtainable. Alien Chinese children of American citizens are precluded from obtaining a nonquota status by the provisions of the act of December 17, 1943, as amended by the act of August 9, 1946. The record fails, however, to present considerations which would warrant the enactment of special legislation granting him a preference over other Chinese aliens, many of whom are children of American citizens who must await their regular turns in the issuance of immigration visas. Accordingly, this Department is unable to recommend enactment of the measure. Yours sincerely, PEYTON FORD, Deputy Attorney General. Senator Leverett Saltonstall, co-author of the bill with Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., has submitted the following information in support of the bill: UNITED STATES SENATE, June 15, 1951. MY DEAR SENATOR MCCARRAN: This is in reference to S. 1280, filed jointly by Senator Lodge and myself on April 9, 1951, for the relief of the minor child, Peng-siu Mei. I am enclosing in duplicate a letter sent to me by Mr. Charles S. Gardner, 5 Berkeley Street, Cambridge, Mass., addressed to your committee. The letter contains detailed information about this young boy. In addition, the following information is quoted from Mr. Gardner's letter to me: "On May 8 last I sent a generally similar statement to Senator Lodge, at his request. Since that date Wellesley College has awarded to Yi-chi the full scholarship which I have reported here, Mount Holyoke has offered her another (in addition to the one for her elder sister), and she has found a job for the summer taking care of three children in New Jersey at a stipend of $250 plus all expenses. Yi-chao will help the family with which she has been living in Worcester, for $200 plus expenses, to which I shall add $100. Yi-tsi will help me in a secretarial capacity, and with research, at $300 'fully found.' "Mrs. Mei plans to look for a job, presumably as a teacher of English literature in a college or secondary school. She may serve as a house mother or the like. When the South China University was founded she was offered the deanship of liberal arts. Her declination of it was probably prompted by her hope to get her boy out of China for the time being. "I understand that Peng-siu shares at least some of the family brilliance, and that he has held scholarship appointments in Chinese schools since his father's death: but for this I cannot at the moment cite chapter and verse." Your committee's earnest consideration of S. 1280 and anything that may be done to expedite favorable action on this bill would be very much appreciated. From all I can learn about this family, this case appears to have considerable merit. In case you would care to have them for your files, I am enclosing pictures of Yi-chao Mei and Yi-tsi Mei, forwarded to me by Mr. Gardner. With best regards, I am Sincerely yours, LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, United States Senator. In addition, the files of the Committee on the Judiciary contain the following information: The Honorable CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS, CAMBRIDGE, MASS., May 17, 1951. United States Senate Judiciary Committee, Washington 25, D. C. GENTLEMEN: With reference to S. 1280, for the relief of Peng-siu Mei, I beg leave as sponsor to submit these data. (1) The boy was born in Shanghai, China, on November 27, 1937, the only son of the late Kwang-ti Mei. His father taught at Harvard as instructor and assistant professor for 10 years, 1924-34, and then returned to China to become professor and later dean at the National University of Chekiang, which he accompanied on its western migration before the Japanese. He served as a university representative on the People's Political Council, advisory to the Nationalist Government. He died in West China in December, 1945. Peng-siu's mother, Ching-ying Lee Mei, was born in Santa Barbara, Calif., on July 26, 1898, but lost her citizenship by marriage in 1927. She bore three daughters in Boston in 1928, 1931, and 1934. Simultaneously she won from Radcliffe an A. M. degree in English literature, which she has taught since her husband's death to support her family. She is now teaching a double schedule in Lingnan School and South China University, both in Macau under the Portuguese flag. She is eligible for admission to the United States to reclaim her citizenship, and is anxious to bring her 13-year-old son to safety here; but is told that a quota visa for him will require years of waiting, and she has no tolerable way to leave him there alone. Peng-siu's American sisters, who came here in June, 1949, are distinguishing themselves. The eldest, Yi-tsi, is graduating with honors (also Phi Beta Kappa) from Mount Holyoke, and has been awarded a $1,500 fellowship at Radcliffe by the Harvard-Yenching Institute. Yi-chao, an honor student at Clark University, has been given a full scholarship by Mount Holyoke. Yi-chi, with a brilliant record at Northfield School for Girls, has been awarded the Richardson scholarship of $1,600 by Wellesley College. All have contributed to their own support, and all will be earning substantially this summer. Because Macau is one of the few pieces of continental China which is still under foreign control, and is totally defenseless, the whole family are terrorized by the realization that the Communists may at any moment take it over and "liquidate" those who, like Mrs. Mei and Peng-siu, are known to have strong ties with the United States. (2) Peng-siu is now a student, the equivalent of a high-school freshman. (3) He is now dependent on his mother. I myself have guaranteed to our consul in Hong Kong my willingness and ability, under certification by my bank, and supported by detailed data, to maintain both Peng-siu and his mother, as need may require. (4) He is engaged in no political activities. Neither he nor any member of his family has ever lived under Communist government. Their whole tradition is strongly conservative. (5) He has never been convicted of any offense. Respectfully submitted. CHARLES S. GARDNER. The committee, after consideration of all the facts in the case, is of the opinion that the bill (S. 1280), as amended, should be enacted. Mr. MCCARRAN, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1604] The Committee on the Judiciary, to which was referred the bill (S. 1604) for the relief of Truman W. McCullough, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon, with an amendment, and recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass. AMENDMENT On page 1, line 6, strike out the figure "$10,000" and insert in lieu thereof the figure "$5,000". PURPOSE The purpose of the proposed legislation, as amended, is to pay to Truman W. McCullough, Colorado Springs, Colo., the sum of $5,000, in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States for compensation for the death of his minor son who died as the result of burns sustained while fighting a forest fire as a volunteer fire fighter at Camp Carson, Colo., on January 17, 1950. STATEMENT It appears that on January 17, 1950, a forest fire was observed about 2 miles northwest of Camp Carson, Colo., and the personnel on the military reservation, both military and civilian, were alerted when it appeared that the fire threatened the reservation. Despite all efforts made by troops and other personnel on duty at the camp, the wind and weather were such that the fire could not be controlled. The military authorities thereupon requested the fire department of the city of Florence, Colo., to assist in fighting the fire. Apparently in |