Speech #860205197

Speaker. I rise in support of the committee bill. House Joint Resolution 397. which would enable the United States to participate in the resettlement of certain refugees. This is World Refugee Year. The United States. by Presidential proclamation. is one of 69 nations which has fixed upon this year as the time when at long last we must find some permanent solutions for the refugee problem. However. I regard this resolution as only a step in the right direction. I would much prefer an overall facing up to the problem of refugees throughout the world. especially in these days when the victims of Communist oppression continue to flee from behind the Iron Curtain to freedom in Western Europe. We must establish legislation on a permanent basis. which will enable our Government intelligently and compassionately to meet its fair share of responsibility for refugee relief. I have introduced the administration bill which specifies that the President may direct the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to parole into this country annually upwards of 10.000 "refugeeescapees" and "nonsettled hardcore refugees." If the President should proclaim that an emergency exists. a greater number may be admitted. The Secretary of State and the Attorney General would be given discretion to provide such measure of relief as is consistent with our world responsibility working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This should be the goal of refugee legislation. House Joint Resolution 397. the bill we are now discussing. is limited in that it restricts eligibility to refugees who now fall under the United Nations mandate. This limitation precludes any relief for certain other refugees principally in the Middle East and the Far East. There are no specific provisions for the emergency situations such as we met following the Hungarian revolt. This resolution confines itself to diminishing the residue of unsettled refugees now in United Nations camps located in Europe. What is ignored is the constant flow of new refugees who continue to flee tyranny in many corners of the globe. It amounts to shortterm sedation in the hope that the problem will go away. I submit that what is needed is not sedation but surgery.