It would discourage the return of French nationals who are vitally needed for the reconstruction of the country. It would play directly into the hands of the Soviets in their efforts to spread chaos and disorganization so that they can establish a strong foothold in north Africa. Some of my colleagues have asked why the United States should assume responsibility for these refugees. arguing that they should be the responsibility of the French Government. To a degree their point has merit. But it must be borne in mind that today France is coping with the problem of taking care of the halfmillion French citizens who have streamed into France from Algeria. a problem of far greater proportion than we face with our Cuban refugees. France also plans to extend reconstruction and economic aid to a cooperative Algerian Government in the amount of $200 to $300 million per year. I want to emphasize that the administrations proposal did not ask us to assume complete responsibility for emergency relief to Algerian refugees. The appropriation it proposed represented only onethird of a total estimated cash need of $16 million over and above food and contributions in kind. The appropriation of $3 million proposed by my amendment represents less than 20 percent of the overall program. The balance will be provided by other governments and from private sources. in response to appeals directly made by the League of Red Cross Societies and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. If there is any doubt about the political importance of this refugee assistance program in Algeria. we should consider the fact that the U.S.S.R. and Red China have donated 29.400 tons of wheat. The total value of the initial Soviet and bloc countries contributions exceeds $4 million at the moment. The peoples of the Communist bloc are hungry or starving.
Keywords matched
Refugees refugee refugees