Speech #860054192

This total of human suffering is so immense that the mind is not capable of comprehending it. No savagery in the entire history of mankind has wrought the complexity of misery and despair as has a quarter of a century of communism. It is encouraging to note the mounting interest and concern over the refugee problem which is being generated by the United Nations General Assembly resolution of December 5. 1958. in support of a World Refugee Year. This resolution was adopted by a vote of 59 to 9. The United States was one of the cosponsors. It is interesting to note that the nine dissenting votes were all cast by the Soviet bloc countries. In our own country. the U.S. Committee for Refugees has been formed to stimulate efforts on behalf of World Refugee Year. The distinguished chairman of the group is Dean Francis Sayre. of the Washington Cathedral. This committee will. I know. do outstanding work. The plight of the millions of refugees throughout the world has been of concern to me for many years. I have felt that we in the United States should leave no stone unturned in our efforts to give as much help as is humanly possible to these unfortunate human beings who. through no fault of their own. have been left homeless and impoverished. First of all. we must realize that the refugee problem is not merely a temporary one. There can be little doubt that the number of refugees will mount in years to come. Therefore. in considering ways to assist refugees. I believe we must discuss and put into operation more longterm programs. Of course. the United States cannot. acting alone. solve this immense problem. its solution will require concerted international cooperation and international activity. But we can indicate our compassion for the worlds refugees by opening our hearts and our doors to at least a portion of these men. women. and children. We have. of course. in the past few years admitted many thousands of such refugees. but only under temporarytype legislation. such as the Refugee Relief Act of 1953. I have proposed in my bill. S. 952. which now is before the Subcommittee on Immigration and Naturalization. that the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 be amended so as to authorize the President to permit up to an estimated 83.000 refugeesescapees to enter the United States each year. I do not think that is asking too much. As a matter of fact. I do not think we can do less in good conscience. The horrible suffering of the refugees demands our full attention. Stopgap measures will hot suffice. I sincerely hope and pray that permanenttype legislation for. refugees. such as I have suggested. will promptly be enacted by this Congress. In conclusion. Mr. President. I ask unanimous consent to have the following newspaper articles and an editorial printed at this point in the RECORD. A summary of the main areas of refugee concentration. published in the New York Times of May 21 under the title "Thirtyone Nations Unite To Aid Refugees." An article on the White House conference. written by William J. Jorden. and published in the New York Times of An editorial on the White House conference. published in the New York Times An article explaining the background of World Refugee Year. published in the New York Times of May 21. An article entitled "Ike Sets World Refugee YearCalls on Americans To Help." written by Elsie Carper. and published in the Washington Post of May 20. And. finally. an article entitled "What Is a Refugee?" written by the distinguished columnist Roscoe Drummond. and also published in the Washington Post of May 20.