Speech #960092678

Not to mention the Africans and Chinese we brought to our land to build our industry or harvest our crops. From this has sprouted an industrious and innovative people. and a people with a collective memory and conscience. Americans. remembering our own "boat people" in the Mayflower and in slave ships. should emphasize with refugees from Indochina and move into actions to prevent something approaching in it grimness another human holocaust. The Oregonians to Save the Boat People. in conjunction with the International Rescue Committee and the Portland Indochinese Center. is set upon sponsoring directly 100 Indochinese refugees a month. using the Portland Indochinese Centers welcome house orograms. The committee seeks to provide temporary housing. along with food. clothing. and basic orientation. Permanent housing then will be found for refugee families. and support services. such as financial aid. will be made available until the family can gain selfsufficiency. The Oregonians to Save the Boat People estimate this effort will cost $500 per person. or approximately. $50.000 per month for the 100 refugees. Since the International Rescue Committee will match Oregon contributions. the total cost for Oregonians will run about $25.000 per month. or $300.000 per year. Coming when the Western World. led by the United States. has agreed to accept double the amount of Boat People. the effort by Oregonians to Save the Boat People is very timely. The Washington Post. in a recent series of articles. estimated that 318.951 Indochinese refugees remained in camps. even though more than 300.000 refugees had already been resettled throughout the world. including more than 206.000 in the United States. Since that series. thousands more Vietnamese have set to sea and have entered a camp or remain adrift. Many reach no destination and are lost. Cold statistics obscure the reality of this exodus. These are people who have endured more than a generation of war. corruption. and tyranny. Life may not have very much meaning for many of these refugees. but that is all the more reason for rising to this enormous challenge. Inhumanity breeds more inhumanity through its landmaiden noninvolvement. The world. quite properly. chastised Germans for looking the other way while Jews were annihilated.