Speech #960105923

It makes this country something special. and that is why I am so anxious and so eager to lend my support to this bill. Americans ought to be proud of our accomplishmentsour willingness to offer a helping hand to the less fortunate of the world reflects well on Americans and serves as a noble example to other countries throughout the world. However. we are here today to consider legislation. the Refugee Act of 1979. that will help us to do an even better job in the future. Although our willingness to help the refugees has always been strong and sincere. our current policies are insufficient to meet todays demands. We need a permanent and systematic procedure for the admission of refugees so as to insure all refugees that they will be treated equally and fairly. Our policy today lacks consistency and planning. We resoond to crises on a casebycase basis with no established policy or statute that guides our actions. Our response to each crisis is subject to the mood of the times rather than being guided by a set procedure that must be applied to all the refugees seeking admission to the United States. The result is that we fail to give equal treatment to the different refugee groups and we waste valuable time and money while we decide how we should best respond. We want to avoid situations like we have faced in the last couple of months with the Indochinese boat people. When people are in need of help. we must be ready to respond quickly without long delays. This legislation provides that organization and planning we so desperately need. It allows us to take into consideration the particular needs of the refugees as well as our own resources. It lays out an established process that the President and Congress must follow at the beginning and end of each year to determine how many refugees the United States can take that year and the resources necessary to resettle those refugees. And. for ongoing resettlement assistance. S. 643 expands these programs to cover all refugees so that the Cuban. Indochinese. Soviet Jews and all others receive equal assistance. The domestic resettlement assistance provisions also provide moneys the States and local communities who have taken on the responsibility of resettling the refugees. A great emphasis has been placed on the important role of social service programs such as vocation services and training. home management. family planning. cultural counseling. All help speed the process of assimilation and assist the refugees in becoming selfsupporting. productive members of their new communities. It has been my experience that our Federal moneys are best spent at this early stage on these types of programs. they can be viewed as an investment for the future. In most cases. if refugees receive Federal assistance in the early years of the resettlement process. their needs for public assistance are usually limited and temporary in nature. Another very important and central provision of this legislation is its new definition of refugees. It corrects the inadequacies of our current definition which have long been overlooked. The definition which we use today is very narrow in scopeit defines refugees as those people fleeing Communist countries and the Middle East. Human suffering is not limited to certain ideologies or geographical areas. If our commitment to help desperate. homeless people is sincere. we must be willing to help all in need of assistance despite their Ideologies or countries or origin. In closing. I think this legislation represents a great step forward for U.S. participation in the world refugee problem. The consideration of this type of legislation is a sign that the United States not only intends to continue our noble efforts. but that we are anxious to improve our ability to respond to those in need of help. The adoption of this national refugee policy will be symbolic of our ageold commitment to human rights and humanitarian concerns that has played such an important role in our Nations history. & Mr. HATFIELD. Mr. President. as a cosponsor of the Refugee Act of 1979. I urge my colleagues to approve this important reform of our somewhat archaic national refugee policies. Its enactment is essential to provide for the orderly admission to our country of those for whom we feel a special responsibility. The history of modern civilization includes the certain ebb and flow of refugee migrationa phenomenon which knows no particular ideological or geographic boundary. It is incumbent upon the free nations of the world to assist in the resettlement effort according to their capabilities. To some countries. that means providing financial aid. to others. permanent homes while yet others may be able to offer only temporary domicile until permanent host countries can be found. S. 643 contains necessary revisions in current law to insure more orderly processing of refugees by replacing the somewhat arbitrary parole authority of the Attorney General with a more uniform procedure to include both administration and congressional input. In addition. it raises the annual limitation on refugee admissions to 50.000 and redefines "refugee" to include a wider range of compelling reasons for admission. Mr. President. the United States is recognized as the leading nation offering hope and aid to homeless refugees whether they come from Cuba. Indochina. the Soviet Union. or from any other corner of the world where they face personal danger and loss of liberty. As a result of our efforts and encouragement. other nations are following our example. At the recently held Geneva Conference on Refugees. nearly every nation in attendance pledged to increase aid and admit significantly larger numbers of refugees into their borders. To most of the world populations. the United States continues to represent not only a nation built and enriched by immigrants. but a haven for deserving and oppressed peoples. Our laws and policies must continue to demonstrate our commitment to individual worth and provide opportunity for new beginnings.*