there was a senator on the floor, senator robert wagner of new york, and he said couldn't we at least as a nation agree to allow 10,000 jewish children, children to come to safety in the united states to escape the nazis in germany? his efforts were stopped and defeated, bringing even these children who would be jewish victims of nazi owe -- oppression was rejected by the united states senate. it was a sad moment in the history of this chamber and a sad moment in the history of the united states. after the war, we reflected on what had happened. we realized that this great, strong and caring nation had made a serious mistake. innocent people had died because we rejected these jewish refugees from germany. and so after world war ii, the united states decided to take a different approach to show leadership to the world when it came to accepting refugees, and since then we have. there have been exceptions, but we have said that our country is open, as most civilized countries on earth are open to those who face oppression, suffering and death come to the united states to be safe. we've e