Speech #940083301

Mr. President. the resolution I have submitted on behalf of myself and the distinguished majority leader urging all Americans to assist In the resettlement of Indochinese refugees. In April of this year. the U.S. role in Vietnam came to an end. and we assumed an obligation to the Vietnamese and the Cambodian refugees who chose life and liberty in America. Congress has chosen to appropriate nearly a half billion dollars for the resettlement of the refugees. But certainly our obligation in this matter is not discharged simply with a vote on a money bill. The success of the resettlement program will depend ultimately not on how much money we spend. but on how much of ourselves we spend. It will depend upon how much the people of this great Nation of immigrants give of themselves in the task of assimilating the refugees into our national life. We hear doubts from some quarters about the wisdom and the rightness of bringing these refugees to our shores. There are some who worry that jobs will be lost to refugees. There are others who fear the influence of alien views and culture in their neighborhoods. And there are those who resent them simply because they are Vietnamese and Cambodians. and thus a part of a traumatic experience which scarred our national life for more than a decade. Such doubts and fears are understandable. perhaps. But I believe that finally. such doubts and fears are beneath a people who are themselves descendants of refugees. And I believe that when asked. Americans will respond to the need to move over and make room for these people. We did not become great by being selfish. or by being frightened of the new and different. or by turning our backs on those in need. So I am confident for the future. For now. however. the great task is to get the refugees out of the refugee camps. This will require sponsors. It will require the assistance of government at the State and local levels.