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Herbert Henry Lehman (1878-1963) came from the highly influential New York family that founded Lehman Brothers bankers, and became a partner in the family firm in 1908. His first major political office was as lieutenant governor of New York state in 1928. After four years he became governor, and served in that position for a decade. Lehman was known for his philanthropic activities, and with the outbreak of World War II became director of the Office of Foreign Relief and Rehabilitation. After leaving the relief office in 1946, he ran for the U.S. Senate, where he served from 1949 to 1957.

The occasion for Lehman's speech on September 11, 1951 was a report concerning some 84 persons who had fled from Estonia, by way of Sweden, to the United States. These were part of a larger exodus from that nation which occurred in the years from 1945 to 1951. The numbers of fleeing Estonians, however, were never large for two reasons:...