German Refugees
Rogers was one of the first members of Congress to speak out against Adolf Hitler's treatment of Jews. The expulsion of Jews from Germany without proper papers caused a refugee crisis in 1938, and after the Evian Conference failed to lift immigration quotas in the 38 participating nations, Edith Rogers co-sponsored the Wagner-Rogers Bill with Senator Robert F. Wagner. Introduced to the Senate on February 9, 1939 and to the House on February 14, it would have allowed 20,000 German Jewish refugees under the age of 14 to settle in the United States.
The bill was supported by religious and labor groups, and the news media, but was strongly opposed by patriotic groups who believed "charity begins at home". After rancorous 1938 elections in the House and Senate, Congress had turned conservative, and despite provisions requiring the children to be supported by private individuals and agencies, not public funds, organizations like the American Legion, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the American Coalition of Patriotic Societies lined up against it. With rising nativism and antisemitism, economic troubles, and Congress asserting its independence, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was unable to support the bill, and it failed.
Read more about this topic: Edith Nourse Rogers
Famous quotes containing the words german and/or refugees:
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