PRESIDENT VISITS REP. WALTER AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 9, 1963, President John F. Kennedy "made an unannounced noon trip to Georgetown University Hospital...to visit ailing Representative Tad Walter* (D-Pennsylvania)" who is reportedly suffering from a respiratory ailment.
The President had given a morning speech at a ceremony held at the Labor Department sponsored by the National Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.
Mr. Walter, chairman of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, was co-author of the McCarran-Walter Immigration Act** of 1952.
JFK+50 NOTE
While Rep. Walter often disagreed with the Kennedy administration on immigration, security & loyalty, the NY Times describes him as one of JFK's "most valued lieutenants" on domestic & social legislation.
*Francis Eugene 'Tad' Walter (1894-1963) was born in Easton, PA & was educated at Lehigh, George Washington University & Georgetown University. FEW served as chairman of the HCUA 1955-1963. He died on May 31, 1963 of leukemia.
**McCarran-Walter Act (1952) was passed over President Truman's veto. While it opened naturalization to Asian Americans it continued the quota system based on national origin & allowed the government to deport & deny re-entry to 'subversives.'
SOURCES
"President Visits Walter in Hospital," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 9, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Rep. Francis Walter, 69, Dies," The New York Times, June 1, 1963, www.nytimes.com/
