Speech #940032722

I might say that such an evacuation would be entirely consistent with the past practices and humanitarian traditions of our own Nation. In 1954 we assisted 1 million North Vietnamese who sought resettlement in South Vietnam. In 1953 we opened our doors to 38.000 Hungarian refugees who were fleeing from Bucharest and its environs. In 1959 we opened our doors to a quarter of a million Cubans who sought refuge from Castros Cuba. Then in 1968 we admitted 10.000 refugees from Czechoslovakia In the wake of the unsuccessful revolution in that country. So I think that to open our doors at this point to those Cambodians whose lives would be in danger once the Khmer Rouge comes to power is something that Is entirely consistent with our own past practices and humanitarian traditions. To those who would say that this would enable an unlimited number of Cambodians to come into the United States at a time when we are experiencIng severe social and economic difficulties at home.