Speech #940056853

I spoke here of the need for the President to present the Congress with detailed longrange plans for the resettlement of those Vietnamese able to depart from South Vietnam. Based on the hearings. we are satisfied that such a plan is taking shape. that the situation appears to be as well under control as is reasonably possible under the circumstances. and that the bill before us represents the appropriate legislative approach. The funds authorized in this bill will be used for: First. the movement of refugees to the continental United States and to third countries. second. food. medical care. and screening at both staging and reception sites. third. resettlement assistance in communities which will be provided under the auspices of the voluntary agencies. fourth. vocational and language training. and fifth. reimbursement to State and local governments for the health care. welfare. and social services which they provide to these refugees. Before discussing the legislation further. I want briefly to describe the relief operations as they are currently underway. The refugee situation has two distinct phasesreception and resettlement. We are currently involved in a particularly critical stage of the first phasethe transportation and processing of rnasses of incoming refugees. Speed is of the essence due to the danger posed to the health and even survival of the refugees because of overcrowding. As a vivid illustration. I am sure many of you saw the picture in last Saturdays paper of the refugees from South Vietnam arriving at Guam on the U.S. vessel Pioneer Commander. According to the most recent figures received toda. from the Indochina Task Force. 121.615 refugees from Tndochina have entered under U.S. control as of May 14. with more in the pipeline. Of this number. more than 61.000 remain afloat on vessels or are at Pacific safe havens or restaging areas. Approximately 59.000 are currently being processed through the reception centers at Travis and Eglin Air Force Bares or at Camp Pendleton or Fort Chaffee. An additional 15.531 have been processed and left Government control. 2aed on the testimony we heard. as well as onsite inspection of one of the resettlement centers by members of my staff. the principal danger to be avoided is the development of a bottleneck situation. This is particularly critical at the present time when a large number of the refugees remain on ships and cannot disembark until room is made for them at the restaging areas at Guam or Wake Island and again at the resettlement camps in the continental United States. The capacity of these camps is limited and refugees must be moved out in the last step of the process before new refugees may be moved in. In other words. there must be a continual flow of refugees from the ships through the Pacific processing and restaging areas and into and out of the resettlement camps. The authority for and appropriation of immediate additional funding is necessary if this movement is to continue. The final goal of this process is the resettlement of the refugees across the country. This is currently underway. under the very capable direction of churchrelated and other voluntary agencies active in the immigration and refugee field. In the absence of Federal funding. these agencies are exhausting their very limited resources with the result that the resettlement end of the process is in danger of coming to a halt. A principal longrange aim of the resettlement program is to avoid a buildup of the refugees in any one area. largely in order to minimize their impact on specific labor markets. The resettlement plan and the bill before us are also aimed at minimizing the burden placed by the refugees on the public services aid agencies of State and local governments. From what we know about this group of refugees. we full anticipate that once they are settled. they will be an asset. rather than a liability to the country. as are the Hungarian and Cuban refugees. However. the costs incurred by the refugees during the necessary resettlement phase are. without question. a Federal responsibility. and should be met by the Federal Government. As I have previously stated. H.R. 6755 authorizes funds for a temporary program to provide special reimbursement to the States for financial and medical assistance and social services provided to needy Vietnamese and Cambodian ref ugees in the United Stg tes.