Speech #940053497

We. too. are damn mad that there Is opposition to assisting these people who are fleeing from what they believe would be communist reprisals against them for having assisted the United States in their respective countries. It matters not whether one was for our military involvement in Vietnam and Cambodia or opposed to it. Indeed the undersigned were not always on the same side of that issue but we are on the same side when it comes to continuing the tradition of American asylum for refugees. Prom 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 130.000 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees who were evacuated from their homelands 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 refugees from Cuba. Hungary. Czechoslovakia. and the Soviet Union. We can do no less for the South Vietnamese and Cambodians. For the fainthearted who seem obsessed with the thought that the 130.000 refugees will overburden our employment situation we say. consider the fact that 60% are children and many others are elderly. and that perhaps only 35.000 who are heads of households are likely to seek work. Frankly. we see in this opposition those who oppose our assistance for political reasons. condemnation of South Vietnamese and indirect support of the North Vietnamese. Joining this faction are those. who in all candor. would discriminate between refugees on the basis of color. Many who supported assisting Cuban. Hungarian. Czech. and Soviet Jewish refugees today would turn their back on South Vietnamese refugees. We will not. We are today. Mr. President circulating a House Resolution supporting your efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to these refugees. Our country has survived many tragedies and we have been blessed with many bounties and most of all we have had as our shining achievement through our history a demonstrated compassion unsurpassed by any other country. Let not the light held in the hand of the Statue of Liberty be extinguished in 1975.