Speech #840150075

Mr. Speaker. we are well acquainted with the plight of the Arab refugees who left Palestine 7 years ago. Today they are still encamped on the same squalid sites that were made available to them as temporary quarters. The Arableaders have continuously obstructed any plans to find permanent quarters for these refugees. It is plain that they have no intention of relieving the situation of these homeless persons. for the simple reason that the elimination of this issue would remove most of the emotionalism from the Arabs campaign against Israel. As evidence of this fact. I wish to call attention to figures recently released by theOffice of the Administrator of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. As of February 10. 1956. only 1.889 Arab refugees applied for visas to come to the United States under the refugee relief program. These applications were filed on the part of refugees in just two Arab countries1.021 applications being from Jordan and 868 from Lebanon. There have been no applications from any of the other Arab countries. Moreover. certain of the Arab countries remain outside the operative scope of the refugee relief program because they have been unwilling to sign readmission certificate agreements as required under the provisions of the Refugee Relief Act. Those countries are Iraq. Saudi Arabia.