Speech #960091870

I incorporated the language of the resolution to an amendment to the appropriations bill introduced by my colleague. Senator BoscHWITZ. That legislation called for increasing our assistance and resettlement of refugees and was passed by the Senate. Heeding to congressional initiative. the President came out in total support of our action by announcing at the Tokyo summit meetings that the number of refugees the United States would accept would be doubled. thus setting an example for other nations. The Geneva Conference on July 20 and 21 resulted in a positive response to U.S. action by the international community. and new pledges were made. At the latest count. 260.000 refugees have been promised asylum. I am gratified by the reaction of participating nations. However. by raising the point that pledges be made automatically renewable. the participants of the Geneva Conference clearly indicated their acknowledgment of the fact that the refugee problem is by no means temporary. While the Vietnamese received praise for their "cooperation" in promising to restrain the flow of refugees. the fact is that they generated the problem and that no guarantees exist as to future developments in Vietnamese policies toward ethnic minorities. The conference at Geneva highlighted the fact that the expected permanence of the problem calls for longterm solutions. Although refugees are not a phenomenon of modern times exclusively. the turbulence of recent decades has created a greater awareness of their existence. as well as an increased recognition that all nations share responsibility on an issue that transcends borders and should raise universal concern on a humanitarian basis. Now that the Geneva Conference has concluded on an affirmative note of support of American efforts. the United States must step forward and provide once more the leadership in providing legislation to deal with the issue of refugees on the longterm basis that is called for. On July 17. the Judiciary Committee reported out favorably S. 643. the Refugee Act of 1979. This bill had been held from consideration by the Senate to allow the asylum nations of the world to deliberate at the U.N. Conference and chart the course of further international humanitarian efforts. Indeed. the feeling was. and justly so. that the United States cannot and should not be expected to support all of the refugees without assistance from other countries. The Senator from Kansas urges his colleagues to vote favorably on S. 643. This bill establishes a uniform and comprehensive policy toward refugees that would correct the injustices and simplify the complexity of the present maze of procedures. I believe that it could cut significantly the amount of bureaucracy now involved as well. while dealing with the various groups of refugees on a more humanitarian basis. In anticipating the potential sources of opposition to the increase in the number of refugees that this country will thus accept. an opposition many of us are not unaware exists. I should like to state once more the feelings that I have expressed on this floor previouslythat by allowing waves of immigrants and refugees to swell the population of the United States. we have time and again invested in the future of our country. That investment in human resources. born of the ethical principles of freedom and justice established by our Founding Fathers has paid off. By passing legislation today. we will acknowledge that the spirit of compassion that has permeated our history continues to burn.