I rise to speak to an amendment which has been adopted by the committee. I focus on that subject merely to make a legislative record. and thus to focus attention on this particular issue. Since 1978 there has been no appropriation to meet the educational needs of refugees coming out of Indochina. We now have approximately 38.000 such refugees entering our public schools so far this year and as a result. there is an impact upon cost factors as well as on the educational programs required to provide proper education for these refugee children. We are told that that number will more than double. so that we will have approximately 75.000 new refugee children by the end of the spring terms of schools around this country this year. There are 15 States which have a particularly heavy influx of such refugee children. The Senator from Washington and I have had communications from our States relative to the urgent need for getting some additional assistance for supporting these refugee programs. We now have another dimension to the problem. in that there are a number of Mung tribesmen included among these refugees. and the Mung tribesmen have been. in large part. illiterate people who are not literate even in their own native tongue. so the educational complexities for those children are. of course. increased. Mr. President. we have not only the problem of the educating of these children. but we have many cultural and other adjustments that have to be made. and the local school districts are really staggering under this growing responsibility.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees