Speech #960137160

Mr. Chairman. I rise in support of H.R. 4955. a bill to authorize urgently needed additional appropriations for migration and refugee assistance in the amount of $207.290.000 for fiscal year 1980 and $203.610.000 for fiscal year 1981. This request was submitted as a Presidential budget amendment for refugee assistance sent to Congress July 25. The budget amendment results from a commitment made by the United States at the Geneva Conference on Refugees July 20 and 21. to request funds from the Congress to meet the current Indochinese refugee crisis. The U.S. response is part of a concerted worldwide effort which includes substantial contributions by our allies and others. Japan. for example. pledged to finance 50 percent of the UNHCRs Indochina program. In recent months. the numbers of Indochinese "boat" and "land" refugees have skyrocketed. Estimates placed the number of Indochinese refugees in UNHCR camps at 375.000. This figure is 270.000 higher than the estimate made at the time the original fiscal year 1980 budget was being proposed. As a part of our effort. the United States has pledged to resettle 14.000 refugees per month. This represents a doubling of our commitment to resettle refugees from that area. thus requiring additional funds. In this area too. other countries have volunteered substantially increased numbers of resettlement opportunities. In fact. the final pledged total is 260.000 which is more than twice the number estimated by the UNHCR in May of this year. The funds in this legislation will provide assistance to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. and for the creation of a much needed new refugee processing center in Southeast Asia ($84 million) and reimbursement to the Department of Defense for the use of U.S. Navy ships and planes to rescue refugees stranded in the South China Sea ($17 million). A final $105 million will finance transportation. documentation. and reception and placement grants for the additional 7.000 refugees per month being resettled in the United States. Both the full House and Senate have approved the appropriations for the full amounts authorized by H.R. 4955 in actions taken earlier on the foreign assistance appropriations bill. Vietnam and its Communist puppet allies elsewhere in Southeast Asia. through their outrageous actions against their own citizens have flung a challenge in the faces of men and women of good will around the world. The Geneva Conference demonstrated the determination of the nonCommunist countries to act quickly and generously to relieve the hardship and suffering of those forced to flee their homelands. Since the United States was the prime mover behind the Geneva Conference on Refugees. as well as the world leader in refugee assistance. I urge my colleagues to approve this authorization. E5 1400