Speaker. it is appalling that Americans in any substantial number should be objecting to providing asylum for those Vietnamese who are fortunate enough to have escaped from South Vietnam and who fled because of their fear that they would be the subjects of reprisal by the Provisional Revolutionary Government and the North Vietnam Communist governments. No matter whether one was in support of our military involvement in Vietnam or opposed as I have been. we have a moral obligation to provide assistance to those Vietnamese fortunate enough to escape. considering the fact that it was we. our country. that was In part responsible for extending their agony. The United States notwithstanding the inequities that exist domestically and the mistakes that we have made in foreign policy. still sets an example for the rest of the world. particularly in its treatment of refugees. From the beginning of our history we as a country have opened our doors to the oppressed of the world to a far greater degree than any other country. That tradition must continue notwithstanding our domestic economic problems. And the truth is that the 150.000 Vietnamese refugees who were evacuated from Vietnam are less than onehalf of our annual number of immigrants. It is with pride that we can point to our humanitarian efforts in providing asylum for Cuban refugees. Hungarian refugees. Czech refugees. and Soviet Union refugees. We can do no less for the South Vietnamese. Two splendid editorials which appeared in todays New York Daily News and the New York Times on this subject are appended: [From the Daily News.
Keywords matched
immigrants refugees