Speech #890282638

It is intended. simply. to make it possible to adjust the status of some 164.000 people who are already in the country. All of these people are already considered a part of the American work force. and most of them currently have jobs. Only 4 percent of these Cuban refugees who have been relocated outside of Miami. for example. are now receiving assistancewhich is about the same rate as the country generally. The critical fact about the Cuban refugees. indeed. is not that the are unemployed. but rather that they are barred from using their skills. By State law. most of those with real skills are prevented from working in the profession for which they were trained. This fact becomes more dramatic when we consider that between 15 and 18 percent of the Cuban refugees in the work force who have come to the United States are trained professionals. Yet these men and women are not now allowed to perform their real trade. because State laws often prevent nonresidents from doing so. For example. there are at least 1.700 trained physicians among the Cubans who have come to this country. Most of them were trained at the University of Havana Medical School. which was one of the finest medical schools in the world. Yet 41 States require that a physician be either a citizen or a permanent resident in order to obtain a license. As a result. only 700 of the refugees have been licensed to practice in States. according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. The obstacles which confront physicians also confront architects. dentists. lawyers. nurses. and teachers. It Is extraordinarily difficult for a nonresident to get a professional job. whatever his qualifications. The result of all of this has been hardship for the refugee who is forced to work at a job below his talents. And it has been a handicap for the American economy. which loses the benefit of people with talents which are in short supply. Hopefully. this bill would make it possible for men and women to perform the jobs for which they have been trained. Finally. I trust that in considering this legislation this afternoon. we will not overlook the broader implications of the issue of Cuban refugees. We will. I trust. pass the legislation because. among other reasons.