Speech #960105904

Mr. President. the Senate is considering today legislation that has been a subject of controversy in the past. yet is inherent in the fabric of American history. S. 643. the Refugee Act of 1979. establishes for the first time a comprehensive approach tc the resettlement and treatment of foreign refugees who come to our country. Historically. our refugee policy has been one of compassion tempered with enlightened selfinterest. In the past. this policy has served our Nation well. But the realities of recent times have changed substantially our atitudes toward a national refugee policy. This bill. by making certain changes in our current refugee laws. alters past practices. First. it drops the current law distinctions of ideological and geographical difference and provides a new definition of "refugee" that recognizes such persons on the same status of other immigrants. It also adds flexibility to the administration of the refugee laws by including a new definition of "displaced persons." Second. the bill raises the annual limitation on regular refugee admissions from 17.400 to 50.000. bringing the total annual level of immigrants to 320.000. Although this is a fairly large increase in numbers. it is not that large when compared to recent annual refugee levels which came about through the exercise of the parole authority by the Attorney General and not by the provisions of the current statute. Third. there is created an orderly flow of refugees to meet the "emergency" conditions experienced recently with the Vietnamese "boat people." A more flexible procedure is established in the bill which allows for the resettlement needs of homeless people that cannot otherwise be met within the regular 50.000 ceiling. The bill also provides a statutory requirement that Congress be consulted before additional refugees over the 50.000 level are admitted and more clearly defines the congressional controls over this process. Finally. S. 643 provides for Federal assistance for a 2year period for refugees once they have entered the country. These domestic assistance programs are provided mostly on a 100percent reimbursement basis with the States. Mr. President. I have not opposed this legislation in the Judiciary Committee. even though I have certain reservations about the extent and size of Americas commitment to the worlds refugee problems. Although events of recent months have been encouraging to me. and I am sure to other Senators. the longterm commitments of the United States. both in this bill. S. 643. and other legislation. must be carefully weighed. An international response to the world refugee problem has been underway under the auspices of the United Nations since December 1978. The conference officially met in Geneva. Switzerland. on July 20 and 21. 1979. The preliminary results of that meeting appeared to be a worldwide effort to deal with this problem: Vietnam announced that it would cease its program of expelling certain people from its borders. Five. firstsite countries where refugees had been landing. indicated they would not repel further landing attempts. Japan announced its intentions to pay for onehalf the costs of relocating up to 300.000 refugees. Canada said it would increase its refugee numbers from 8.000 a year to 50.000 a year. The United States ordered the 7th Fleet to the South Pacific to aid in the recovery of boat people floating at sea. Only time will tell if these commitments will be fulfilled. of course. but it portends a good beginning to solving a recognized world problem. As a result of the Presidents action of doubling the monthly influx of refugees to the United States. about 168.000 refugees will enter our borders this year. This creates problems of an immediate nature that are not really resolved or affected by the passage of S. 643. The immediacy of the current problem does. however. offer some insights into the longrange impact of the bill on our future refugee policy. For example. a provision for conditional entry should be retained in our refugee laws. S. 643 does provide for a 2year period of conditional status for those refugees beyond the yearly normal flow of 50.000. This period would allow Immigration and Naturalization Service authorities to properly identify such refugees. their backgrounds and their intentions within the United States. During the conditional period. refugees would be allowed to receive domestic assistance. such as welfare payments. health care and job training. but they would not yet receive immigration visas. More important. however. the conditional entry period allows time for the Government to assess the impact of these excess numbers of refugees on American society. Are there regions of the country where certain refugees are more suited and can be best integrated into society? Do some refugee groups adjust to conditions in America better than others? Has the influx of refugees had an adverse impact on social services or local communities? Answers to these and other questions should be examined carefully during the 2year conditional entry period. Mr. President. although the number of changes in our immigration and refugee laws are few. they are significant. S. 643 makes an increased American commitment to future world refugee problems. It is almost coincidental that the refugee situation in Southeast Asia has escalated at the same time the Senate considers this legislation. For that reason. I believe it is important. as the ranking Republican member of the Judiciary Committee. to place on the record a complete background about current refugee policy and the effect of this legislation on our future policy. According to the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. in 1978 there were more than 13 million refugees worldwide. Some 37 countries are sources of refugees. This has come about primarily because of the growth in number of independent. Third World countries which are experiencing problems of governmental instability and economic unrest. The presence of unfriendly neighboring nations and political. religious. and ideological struggles internally encourage civil wars and consequently. refugees. The sudden growth of refugee numbers in recent years has found the existing international organizations and agencies incapable of meeting the demands of resettlement and assistance. The United States supports international refugee relief efforts through contributions to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM). as well as a number of other governmental and nongovernmental voluntary agencies. The financial assistance given by the United States is substantial. Mr. President. for fiscal year 1980. the Department of State is asking for $179.9 million for refugee programs. The Department of Health. Education. and Welfare is asking for $224.5 million. Adding in other funding commitments of the United States. a total of $404.4 million will be expended in 1980 for refugee assistance. This is a major contribution by the U.S. Government in an effort to underwrite these international agencies which assist refugees worldwide. Some of these funds will be used for domestic assistance within the United States. I believe that a certain amount of financial support should be provided. but in the context of a shared effort on an international basis. The United States should support efforts to help refugees around the world. especially those fleeing Communistbacked dictatorships of Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries. But we should not bear this financial load alone. It must be a combined effort by all nations of the world which are committed to assisting these poor people who seek escape from tyranny and oppression. Much good was accomplished at the United Nations Refugee Conference in Geneva. Switzerland. on July 20 and 21. The nations who are the fountainhead of the refugee problem in Southeast Asia were convicted in the court of world opinion of calculated and deliberate wrongdoing to certain ethnic groups of their population in order to force these groups to leave their homelands under conditions fraught with danger on the open seas and overland. I would hope that those nations will heed the warning given to them in no uncertain terms. I would hope the verdict of history will tell those who come after us that we were true to our heritage as a people and a Nation and lastly. but above all. we cared.