Speech #920207936

President. I would like to join my colleagues in commending the Senator from California on his analysis of just what this war has done. not only to our Nation but to the human beings in Southeast Asia. and most particularly to the civilian population of South Vietnam. As the chairman of the Subcommittee on Refugees of the Committee on the Judiciary. I can state that since 1965 we have held extensive hearings on what the impact of this war has been on the civilian populationthe innocent children. the women. and the old people who are caught in the crossfire of the viciousness of the Vietcong assaults and the North Vietnamese offensivesbut most tragically of all. by the viciousness of the bombing attacks and the firepower of the American forces. It has been our conclusion. after days. weeks. and months of hearings. and after two visits to Vietnam and the Southeast Asian peninsula. that in many instances nearly 80 percent of the refugees have been caused by American firepower. and that many of the victims. the civilian war casualties. war orphans. and other victims. are caused by American firepower. Perhaps it would give pause to the American people to realize that in South Vietnam. a country of some 17 million. that there are over 700.000 war orphans today. that there are in excess of 200.000 war widows. and that there are more than 250.000 individuals who are physically disabled. because of the warthat there are over 1.500.000 people whose bodies. minds. and loved ones have been lost in South Vietnam. In 1971. there were more than 140.000 new refugees officially registered in South Vietnam. At least half of them were victims of forced relocation by Government forces. and all of them were in addition to the nearly 6 million refugees created since 1965. Since January of this year the number has continued to grow. In fact. since April 1. and the escalation of the war. more than 200.000 new refugees have fled into Government territory alone. And uncounted thousands remain behind. In Quang Tri Province. tens of thousands of these new refugees are simply fleeing camps where U.S. Marines moved them in 1967. Today they are caught in the crunch of another battle. with little hope of it being the last. The cumulative total of refugees in South Vietnam today is well over 6 million. which is at least onethird of the countrys population. In 1971. some 38.318 Vietnamese civilians were officially admitted as civilian war casualties to Government hospitals. Tens of thousands of others were treated elsewhere. were never treated at all. or were killed outright.