Speech #860269061

Others need rehabilitation and training to make them selfsufficient in the environment of their asylum. An unfortunate few will never be totally selfsufficient again. I believe that a great deal has been accomplished during World Refugee Year that is worthwhile. At the same. the high expectations for this event were to a large extent unfulfilled. No one. of course. expected that all of the problems would be cleared away within the year. But there were many things that might have been done that were not. There has certainly been a quickening of the public awareness in the United States of the nature and extent of the refugee problems. This was brought about by the publications of the United Nations and through the use of mass media by private organizations such as the U.S. Committee for Refugees. There have been increased contributions for refugees by private individuals. both in money and the basic necessities. such as food and clothing. Here again the private voluntary refugee agencies are to be credited with having provided the stimulus that sparked these drives. Substantial contributions were made in this field by other private organizations such as the fraternal and benevolent societies. church groups. and the like. that are not normally engaged in refugee activities. The U.S. Government Increased its contribution to -the various activities benefiting refugees. Over $70 million was spent on these programs by the United States. This included approximately $40 million for the regular refugee programs. $25 million in surplus foods distributed under Public Law 480. and over $5 million of the $10 million fund specially earmarked for World Refugee Year activities. The one area. in my opinion. in which we in this country failed to live up to our capabilities is refugee legislation. The Congress alone is responsible for this. What better occasion could we have had to enact a substantial refugee bill. or even to revise our basic immigration law so that more of the worlds refugees could be accommodated within its framework? I. for one. am sadly disappointed with what we shall have to settle for as our legislative contribution to World Refugee Year. This. as it turns out. is House Joint Resolution 397. which at best can be expected to allow about 5.000 refugeeescapees to enter the United States in each of the next 2 years. This joint resolution passed the House in April and was amended and reported out of committee in the Senate last week. I hope It will clear both Houses before adjournment. The Senate committees amendments to the joint resolution. I believe. improved it in several particulars but did not broaden it very much in scope. These amendments added a provision committing us to accept up to 500 "difficult to resettle" refugeeescapees. In doing this we will join Australia. New Zealand. Canada. and a number of other countries that have already taken in hardcore refugees. whose needs are the most urgent of all. The Senate committee also amended House Joint Resolution 397 by tacking onto it the provisions of H.R. 10419 which had already passed this House. These provisions extend the alien orphan adoption program under section 4 of the act of September 11. 1957. for 1 year until June 30. 1961. and the Azores and Dutch Indonesian refugee programs for 2 years until June 30. One of the shortcomings in the general provisions of House Joint Resolution 397 is that they apply only to refugees under the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees. That is. only European refugees can come in under them. Refugees in the Near and Far East are completely excluded from these provisions. Another shortcoming is that the legislation provides that the United States shall accept only 25 percent of the number of refugees resettled outside the United States. The United States. the free worlds wealthiest and most powerful nation. is thus put in the position of being a follower rather than a leader in resettling refugees. There would. of course. be less need for this country to enact special refugee legislation if its basic immigration laws were not tied to the national origins quota system. The best way to provide permanent refugee relief would be to replace this antiquated and discriminatory system with one that would determine immigration on the basis of need. Congress has had before it a bill for such a system since 1955. This is the Celler bill first introduced in 1955 and reintroduced in each Congress since that time. Along with a dozen or so of my colleagues I introduced in the present Congress a companion bill to that of the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee. This bill is a comprehensive omnibus proposal which would completely rewrite the Immigration and Nationality Act. In addition to abolishing the national origins quota system it would enact other needed reforms in our immigration and nationality laws. These include granting increased due process protections in deportation and exclusion procedures. eliminating secondclass citizenship provisions for naturalized citizens. and providing greater efficiency in administering the law by an independent commission in place of the dual administration by the Justice Department and the State Department that the present law requires. I shall not attempt to explain all the details of the substitute provided for in the bill in place of the national origins quota system. The substitute system would be a unified quota system with certain percentages going to five different classes of immigrants from any country in the world. These classes are: First. Family reunification. which would include close family relatives of residents of the United States. Second. Aliens whose skills are urgently needed in the United States. Third. Those whose admission would help solve economic problems of friendly nations. The Dutch Indonesian refugees are a good example. Fourth. Those fleeing religious or political persecution. Fifth. A fifth class would include those who do not fit into any of the four preference groups. No one nation would receive a preponderant share of immigrant visas. as a percentage limitation would apply apply within each of the five classes of immigrants. The United States can be justly proud of its efforts to assist the millions of displaced persons and refugees resulting from World War II and ensuing events. During the past 15 years our Government has spent well over a billion dollars for these purposes. The big intergovernmental agencies--the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration. the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the United Nations Relief and Works Agencywould hardly be able able to operate without this countrys financial support. More than 700.000 displaced persons and refugees were settled in this country since World War II. This proud record only adds to my disappointment over our lack of greater accomplishments during World Refugee Year. Howard "Slim" Suttle