I do not understand the reason for it. In both bills the requirement for a valid passport is eliminated. and this is a good thing. Many refugees and escapees cannot obtain passports. They are stateless. Obviously. it is difficult for an escapee to get a passport from the officials of the country from which he has fled. This has been a great source of difficulty in the administration of the program. Both bills relax this requirement. There is a related requirement in present law which has also been a source of frustration. confusion. and delay. and that is the requirement for a certificate of readmission to the country from which he migrates for each individual who is admitted under the refugee relief program. This has required agreements with other countries and resulted in endless delay. Some countries will not give certificates of readmission. My bill eliminates this requirement. The Watkins bill also eliminates it. but not quite as plainly. in my judgment. as S. 1794. S. 1794 increases the quota for refugees now residing in North Atlantic Treaty countries by 15.000 and adds Spain and North Africa to the list of countries from which such refugees are eligible to be admitted into the United States. There are a number of Yugoslav refugees in Spain and a number of refugees of assorted national origins in North Africa whom we should surely include in the refugee program. They are as needy and as deserving as the others in the same group. This change is found in section 2 of S. 1794. amending paragraph 3 of section 3 (a) of the present law.
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refugee refugees