Speech #850266684

Mr. President. the equitable resettlement of the hundreds of thousands of homeless individuals and families. many of whom today scrape out a meager subsistence in barren refugee camps. is a primary responsibility of the Free World nations. Thousands of these refugees have escaped from Communistdominated areas behind the Iron Curtain only to be confronted by another kind of unfriendly barrierrigid immigration laws which have prevented many of these freedom fighters and freedom lovers from earning a living and raising their families in countries dedicated to democratic ideals and institutions. While the resolution proposed by my six colleagues and myself recognizes that many agencies and programs have been established to assist refugees. it points up the hard fact that we have been unable so far to coordinate their activities with those at the governmental level to solve the growing resettlement problem. The United States. as ideological leader of the Free World. cannot afford to postpone its own responsibility to play a leading role in searching out and developing effective. fair. and practical solutions. Here in the United States. Congress has yet to act on the report of the Zellerbach Commission of the International ResCue Committee on the European Refugee Situation. it recommended enactment of a new law admitting 65.000 Iron Curtain refugees as nonquota immigrants over a 2year period. with special provision for the admission of a fair share of hardcore cases. on the pattern established by the Scandinavian countries. The Commission also suggested that we experiment with the admission of 35.000 refugees annually for 2 years to be divided among stateless refugees. ethnic refugees. and others. in light of the existing political situation in Europe. The Commission also advocated the convening of an international conference of Free World representatives to set up a crash program to deal with the some 160.000 refugees still not settled in Europe today. the overwhelming majority of whom. I emphasize. fled from Communistdominated regimes. One of our great strengths Is the tradition of freedom which is an inspiration to those who cherish it although they may live behind the Iron Curtain. like the Hungarians and Poles. It is essential that we recognize the size and scope of this refugee problem as it already exists today and outline a program now for permanent resettlement of such refugees. we must not find ourselves caught again as we were during the Hungarian revolt. when we had to rely on spur of the moment improvisation to try to alleviate the misery and distress of thousands. Last year we passed an immigration law which was very limited in character. Progress under Public Law 316. last years immigration law. has been less than might be hoped. Section 15 (a) (3) of that law. for example. authorizes the issuance of 14.556 visas for refugeeescapees from Communistdominated areas and the Middle East. As of July 28. 12.524 applicants under this section. some 252 visas have been issued. Mr. President. that is a pretty shocking record. It is not attributable necessarily to bad administration. but instead to the builtin provisions of the law. which make it so very difficult to actually get going. The administration has pledged itself to expedite this program. the delays on which have principally resulted from the intricate screening process employed. Mindful of the recommendations of the Zellerbach Commission for a conference to liquidate the residual refugee problem in Europe. the "clear the camps" program of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees which seeks to shut down all refugee camps by 1960except reception and processing centersmy colleagues and I are sponsoring this resolution to summon an international refugee conference. Admittedly. it is late in the session for this action. but how much later in the day it must seem to the hundreds of thousands of homeless refugees who look to the United States for the leadership reflecting recognition of our international obligation and moral responsibility to aid in their resettlement. We believe that there is still time in this session to act on such a resolution as this. Mr.