Speech #940052689

Mr. Speaker. I have been disturbed and even ashamed in recent days by the reaction of some Americans. even some Members of Congress. that we should lock our doors. turn our backs. and even return to Vietnam these refugees from Communist aggression and potential oppression. Have 200 years of independence from tyranny brought us to a point at which we have forgotten who we are. whence we came. and what we represent? I sincerely hope not. Has the welcoming torch of freedom held high by the Statute of Libertythat "Mother of Exiles"-been snuffed out. condemning to eternal darkness the hopes of those who would aspire to live in the "land of the free?" I sincerely hope not. Mr. Speaker. we have long prided ourselves on our historic tradition of being a "nation of immigrants." a "melting pot." and a haven for those fleeing persecution. Our Nation was founded by people fleeing from religious and political persecution. Following World War II this Nation welcomed some 450.000 displaced persons. between 1953 and 1956 we took in some 189.000 refugees from Eastern Europe. between 1956 and 1957 we accepted some 30.700 Hungarians. and. most recently. between 1959 and the present. we absorbed some 675.000 persons fleeing Communist Cuba. The number of Indochinese refugees Is palish in comparison with some of these earlier humanitarian efforts and is but a small percent of the total number of legal immigrants who will be arriving anyway this year. Mr. Speaker. the early reaction against welcoming these refugees has been attributed in part to our current economic situation. It Is argued by some that with the Nations unemployment nearing 9 percent. we can illafford to asborb these refugees into our economythat they would be competing for scarce Jobs. But. when one considers that a large number of these refugees consists of women and children and dependents of American citizens. this employment factor is minimal in impact. Moreover. the administration has announced that every effort will be made to insure that resettlement will not be concentrated in a few enclaves in the country and therefore will not result in economic hardship. And the legislation which I have introduced would make it possible for the Department of Health. Education. and Welfare to provide full reimbursement to State and local social service and health agencies for costs they may Incur in providing income assistance. health maintenance. social services. and educational services to those refugees who are in need of such assistance. It has also been suggested that the negative reaction is connected with American disgust for the war. Americas involvement in it and the tragic toll it has already extracted from our society. Americans would now like to put it all behind them and forget. yet these refugees bring it all home once again as a lasting reminder. Harvard sociologist David Reisman has explained it this way: Americans are full of selfpity. We are all Justifying our grievances by striking out at others. The national mood is poisonous and dangerous and this is one symptomstriking out at helpless refugees whose number is infinitesimal. Mr. Speaker. while it Is understandable that many Americans would like to once and for all wash their hands of Vietnam and forget. the fact remains that we cannot and should not forget an experience which has left such a deep scar on our national psyche and which could be repeated if we fail now to face up to the lessons of that experience. By the same token. the refugees are a fact of that experiencethey are here. they are with us. and we must squarely confront that fact and deal with it rationally and morally. It just will not do to claim that our original involvement was immoral and therefore we have no moral obligation to its victims. That is like saying that father has no moral commitment to a child born out of wedlock because the act of conception was immoral. To a great extent. America has fathered these refugees because of their close association with us over the years. As Nell Sheehan has written in the April 22 Washington Post: The United States has a profound moral commitment to Vietnamese who placed themselves and their families in jeopardy by taking the American side in the long war against their Communistled countrymen . . . Precisely who was responsible for the original policy and who is to blame for the current debacle is beside the point at the moment.