Speech #890215044

Perhaps the general AID program could have absorbed these people but certainly this had not been the case. The South Viet Nam government did not have a program which would have given these homeless. landless persons the help they needed. Without a separate refugee program within both the South Vietnamese government and the U.S. AID mission. with concomitant budget appropriations. this large segment of South Vietnamese people would have suffered undue hardship. The majority of these peasants are from former Viet Cong holdings. How difficult it would be to convince these people of the merits of true freedom if we were not prepared to make their first contact with the democratic way of life a satisfactory and a rewarding one. Under federal auspices. broadscale aid for Cuban refugees in the United States began late in 1960 when President Eisenhower inaugurated a program to deal with most urgent needs. Subsequently. President Kennedy recognized the Cuban refugee problem as one of national responsibility. beyond the means of individual states or the combined efforts of Voluntary Agencies. On February 3. 1961. President Kennedy issued a statement instructing the then Secretary of Health. Education. and Welfare Abraham Ribicoff. to aid Cuban refugees under these points: (1) Help Voluntary Agencies to provide daily necessities to resettle. and to find jobs. (2) Gain private and government agency cooperation to provide job opportunities. (3) Provide funds for resettlement. including transportation and adjustment costs in the new community. and return to Miami for repatriation to a Free Cuba as soon as that becomes possible. (4) Furnish financial assistance for basic maintenance in Miami and communitiesof resettlement. administered through federal. state and local channels. based on standards used in communities involved. (5) Provide essential health services. (6) Furnish federal assistance for local public school operating costs related to the Cuban impact. (7) Initiate measures to augment training and educational opportunities. including physicians. teachers. and those with other professional backgrounds. (8) Provide financial aid for unaccompanied children. (9) Undertake surplus food distribution administered by the Dade County (Miami) Welfare Department. Expenditures of the program. through December 31. 1965 (half of fiscal 1966) totaled more than $200.000. of which the major portion was for welfare assistance and services .to needy refugees in Miami. For each fiscal year. expenditures were: 1961--$4.089.000. 1962-$38.502.000. 1963-$56.027.000. 1964$46.011.000. 1965-$36.400.000. 1966Appropriation. $30.000.000. (A Supplementary appropriation of $12.600.000 was approved on request of President Johnson in October 1965. btinging the 1966 total t6 $42.600.000). The declines in 1964 and 1965 appropriations reflected the fact that fewer refugees in Miami (before the new exodus in late 1965) required financial assistance. as a result of the success of resettlement efforts and of employment opportunities in Miami. Time will not permit my going into the details of our Cuban Refugee Program. With so many people crowding into the Miami area. the Federal Government established a policy of resettlement away from Miami. Four national voluntary agencies were contracted to furnish resettlement services to the Government.