Speech #860205158

I am convinced that this resolution. after it is placed on our statute books. will be administered carefully and wisely. and that the required cooperation between the Secretary of State and the Attorney General will be as friendly and efficient as it was in the past. The functions of the Department of State and the Department of Justice in the administration of this legislation are of great importance. indeed. While the powers and duties of the Attorney General under section 212(d) (5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act as well as under all pertinent provisions of that law and under this resolution are preserved intact and inviolate. the prerogatives and functions of the Secretary of State in the area of foreign relations remain equally intact under the opening paragraph of section 2 of the joint resolution. I urge the House to vote overwhelmingly in favor of this legislation. There has been much said about the problem of refugees. Many of the nations have issued stamps. but many of them. outside of the Iron Curtain. have made contributions. Funds have been raised from various sources. In this legislation we deal with the camp population. with those people who are subject to the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refufees. and nobody else. We are exposed. in my judgment. to about onefourth of 22.000 people. There has been much discussion as to the number of refugees. and conflicting figures are being presented from various sources all the time. Some months ago. I said there were 28.000 people in the camps. This caused considerable consternation in the ranks of those people who have made this business of moving refugees a very profitable one. Just this morning. I talked with some people at the United Nations in New York. I was advised that the number is not 28.000 but it is now about 22.000. As I said earlier. we have written into the bill a provision under which the number we take will be determined by the total number of defined refugees taken by other nations participating in this program. That number is readily ascertainable so that in the opinion of your committee. the maximum number that could be taken. assuming that everybody in the camps wants to move. and I am sure that is not the case. our share will always represent 25 percent of those moved elsewhere. If my colleagues will indulge me for a moment. I would like to tell of a conversation I had with a cabinet minister of the appropriate agency of the Austrian Government. He pointed out that most of these people are old. He said that emigration is not an attractive thing when people are over 35. I am sure that is the case. As I was saying. the numbers that would be moved would be relatively small. In view of the fact that we have actually been a participating sponsor of this World Refugee Year. it seems to me we are almost compelled to adopt the kind of legislation which will indicate our desire to participate and also the limits within which that participation will take place.