Speaker. I rise to call the attention of the House of Representatives to the following petition and lists of signatures which have been delivered to my office. The petition calls on the President to order the U.S. 7th Fleet to assist refugees on the high seas fleeing from Vietnam. It also calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to work with the United States in housing those refugees in facilities in countries of first asylum. We are pleased that President Carter has issued an order providing for ships of the U.S. Navy to assist boat people on the high seas. We are pleased that the Philippines have made a site available for a refugee facility accommodating 50.000 people. Indonesia has offered another island which will accommodate 10.000. for which we are also grateful. Thus. the purpose of this petition has already been advanced. Lives are being saved and. in a real sense. first aid has been provided in a drastic situation. But we should be alert to the further challenges of continued provision of. sufficient first asylum facilities so that all refugees have adequate shelter and food. We must continue to exhort our friends in other nations to increase their acceptance of Indochinese for resettlement. The Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs will continue to work toward those ends.
Keywords matched
Refugees refugee refugees