Speech #960105931

The cost of the program in dollars is slowly becoming available but it is still incomplete. However. we know that the costs are escalating rapidly. For example. the Cuban refugee program cost us $1.3 billion over a period of about 20 years. The Indochinese refugee assistance program cost us $1 billion over a period of 4 years (197579). However. after much digging it has become evident that the cost of our total refugee assistance effort in fiscal year 1980that is. 1 yearwill be about $1 billion. However. indications are that the cost to the States will be in the tens of millions of dollars. The indirect costs are even more difficult to ascertain. The impact on unemployment should be one of our considerations. We are told by agencies which assist the refugees that they have a high rate of employment. However. we are not told quite so loudly that much of this employment is underemployment and that about onethird of the refugees from Indochina are still receiving some type of welfare assistance. Further. we are not told if the jobs taken by immigrants contribute to our already high unemployment figures. Indications are that they do. Mr. President. it is difficult for me. and I think for many American citizens. to feel that the administration is serious about restraint of Federal spending and balancing budgets when we are willing to lay out a billion dollars per year for refugee assistance. for paying the cost of bringing new citizens into this country. This is not a firm figure. and it could be much more. HEW assures me that they cannot compute the cost to the States which under S. 643 would have to begin picking up part of the welfare expenses for refugees who have been in this country for 2 years. The Interagency Task Force on Immigration found that if immigration occurs near the bottom of a business cycle when many U.S. workers are unemployed. it is unlikely to produce any significant benefits and it clearly will exacerbate unemployment or lower the relative wages of lowskilled workers or both. Many economists are predicting a deep recession next year with unemployment possibly exceeding 8 million people. In other words. we will experience the "bottom" of a business cycle. Unfortunately our response to this unemployment is not to attack some of the causes directly but to go on grinding out Federal job creation programs which cost the taxpayers billions of dollars. In 1978 the Federal Government spent approximately $9 billion on these types of job creation programs. There are also social costs attached to any immigration program. Every nation has limits on the number of individuals it can effectively assimilate without experiencing severe social disruption. With regard to the large scale refugee program we are seeing increasing signs of social stress. which is certain to escalate as the numbers increase. News reports are becoming more frequent in which minorities and Vietnam veterans say that refugees "are taking needed jobs. housing. educational programs. and Government assistance." I do not believe that any of these costs require that we stop our refugee assistance program. However. I do believe that they require that we take a close look at our total immigration policy to assure that it is in the best interest of the citizens of this country. If we find that a particular part of our immigration program is costing too much we will have to make the decision to either cut it back or to offset it in some other way. The crucial point to bear in mind is that our immigration policy must be as falh to American citizens as it is to those whc wish to immigrate. As elected officials we owe our first allegiance to our citizens and their future generations. Many people respond to the argument that we must place reasonable limita- tions on total Immigration with the statement that we are a nation of immigrants and that to do so would be a repudiation of the inscription on the Statue of Liberty. We. are. in fact. a nation of immigrants. just as are most other nations in the world. The only difference is that the immigration to other countries took place much earlier than our own. However. this has not stopped other nations. including those with large land masses such as Canada and Australia. from imposing reasonable immigration controls which are tied to their domestic needs. As to the assertion that reasonable restraint would be a repudiation of the inscription on the Statue of Libertywhich. incidentally. were the words of a French poet and not a reasoned policy developed by the Congress or the people of the United States--I believe that reason must be applied here also. The statue was erected in 1884. when the population in the United States was about 50 million and we. as a nation. had what was thought to be an unlimited supply of energy. resources. and land. Today. we have a population well over 200 million. which is growing rapidly. In addition. we have an energy crisis. excessive pollution. mounting congestion. dwindling resources. high unemployment and decreasing rural land. To fail to recognize these problems and to integrate them properly into our immigration program would be a mistake. Mr. President. I am not advocating an isolationist policy which attempts to close our doors to all immigration. We can and should have an active immigration policy in the United States. I firmly believe that it is healthy for our country to have an infusion of new blood on a regular basis and that we have a moral duty to assist the homeless of the world in every reasonable fashion. I am not unaware or unappreciative of the tremendous contribution that foreignborn individuals in the United States have made to the development of this great country. Certainly. we could not have populated and developed the vast areas of the United States in the manner that we did without those who came to us from foreign shores. The image of the United States as the great melting pot of the world has contributed to the strength that we have enjoyed throughout the entire world. However. we must have a total immigration policy which is as fair to American citizens as it is to immigrants. We will never accomplish this as long as we continue deciding immigration questions in a piecemeal fashion and without adequate information on the ultimate consequences. It seems that all of these questions arise at a time of great emotional appeal. when dire circumstances exist at some point in the world and we do not have information. we do not have real understanding of the economic. social. political. or demographic impact of our present immigration levels. I believe that it is time that we act responsibly on this issue by discovering the facts before we continue down a road with so many potential pitfalls. Once we have traveled this road. it will be impossible to retrace our steps. It is vitally important that we have a comprehensive immigration policy for the United States. That policy should be made by the Congress of the United States with a clear understanding of what we are doing and. with the citizens of the United States being fully aware of the policy we are developing. Furthermore. it should be a policy devised in the light of conditions which exist today and which anticipates our needs and our interests in the future. My suggestion is simply that the time has come for a total review and reassessment of the immigration policies of the United States. including the refugee problem. This will enable us to have a better understanding of the scope of the problem that exists now and a better hope of developing the kind of policy and procedures that will be in the best interests of the citizens of this countryand. indeed. in the best interests of those who desire to immigrate and become citizens of the United States. Another thing that it seems to me. Mr. President. has not entered into the discussion and debate and consideration of the legislation that we are considering now is what the impact of U.S. policy is on the rest of the world relating to refugees. Are we really helping solve the refugee problem by having a generous. openended. virtually unlimited policy or are in fact. creating more refugees? Some officials in Malaysia. Hong Kong. Indonesia. who are there every day. wrestling with this flood of refugees. have been highly critical of U.S. policy. They say that by going onto these vast programs. by announcing them. we are signaling to all those who are dissatisfied for any reason that the doors of the United States will always be open. that we will pay for their passage. we will guarantee them a job. sustenance for all their life. as a matter of fact. They say that we are. perhaps. creating more refugees than we are eliminating. I have heard very little discussion of that problem in the development of this particular legislation. Mr. President. at the appropriate time. I shall offer some amendments that I think will improve this legislation. will lead us toward a saner refugee and immigration policy in the United States. I thank the distinguished Senator for yielding to me at this time.