Chairman. I would like to ask a question of the distinguished chairman from the State of Maryland. who. as in years past. has done such an excellent job in guiding this bill through the committee and onto the House floor. In the legislation we have before us today. nearly $50 million is being appropriated for transportation of Indochinese refugees to the United States. As our colleagues may know. I certainly feel that the United States has a responsibility to admit onto our shores a fair share of these refugees. and hope that we will vigorously pursue international efforts to encourage other nations to do the same. Several months ago. I suggested to our colleagues that our responsibility is much the same with respect to these refugees today. as it was with Jewish refugees fleeing Europe during the Hitler years. And I urged that our Nation respond more generously than we did at that time. I must question. though. whether the current program of transporting and processing these refugees is being administered in the most costeffective manner. Currently. the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration. ICEM. is administering this program. with U.S. tax dollars. But now. apparently. ICEM is seeking to canvass foreign carriers to implement the airlift program. ICEM has also set a charge of $36 to process each refugee. and to administer them with physical examinations. At least one U.S.-flag carrier has indicated that it would transport these refugees at a cost that is less than what has apparently been suggested by foreign carriers. And the highly respected U.S. Catholic Conference has said. it has been reported to me. that it could process and give health exams to the refugees at twothirds the cost of what ICEM is charging now. It seems to me that we may be able to transport and process these refugees at a lesser expense than is presently the case under the ICEM administration. And. of course. if a U.S. carrier were contracted to airlift the refugees. the U.S. tax dollars required to pay for the service would be returned to our economy. Yesterday. I wrote the State Department. requesting that they look into this matter. study alternative proposals. and report back to me. I wonder whether the committee has done the same. and whether they have taken this into consideration in estimating the amount called for in this legislation. The fact that this amount has been estimated by the committee to be sufficient for 7.000 refugees per month. not the 14.000 figure that the President has pledged. would seem to indicate that this is a particularly important point to study. Because I presume that in several months we will be considering a supplemental bill to help provide for the balance of these refugees. Perhaps some organization other than ICEM. and the Military Air Command comes immediately to mind. could implement this program with a better eye on U.S. interests. Before the gentleman replies. I would only like to emphasize that this should not be construed to imply that I would close our doors to these refugees who are in such great need of our help. but only that this program should be administered just the same as all our Government programs ought to be. in a manner that is as efficient as possible.
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refugee refugees