Mr. Chairman. the need for funds for the refugee program is quite clear. The Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees are in our country because they had no where else to go. They fled from communismsome because of fear for their lives. others because they simply did not want to live under a Communist form of government. Most of them were our friends and active supporters during the war in Indochina. Their situation is a tragic one and we cannot turn our backs on them now. I realize there has been hostility by some toward the refugees. Much of this is due to the fact that the public did not realize what is proposed. The refugees are being processed at three staging areas and moved out as quickly as possible to areas where they will be settled permanently under sponsorship of friends. relatives. or charitable organizations. There they will expect to use their skills and to begin a new life in America. They will be distributed as widely as possible in order to avoid too great an impact on any one part of the Nation. Some of the apprehension which first was felt about the refugees was that they would be released indiscriminately in the staging areas to compete for jobs. to complicate educational and other problems. and to present difficulties associated with a major influx of people of a different culture and customs. This is not the case. These in the staging areas can leave only under the sponsorship of local citizens for limited times.
Identified stereotypes
Generalizations about refugees competing for jobs and complicating educational problems.