Speech #960175452

Mr. Speaker. H.R. 2816 is an attempt to replace our current haphazard system with a permanent program for the admission of refugees and assistance for their resettlement in this country. Although I am acutely aware of the need for updated refugee legislation and recommendations for longrange reform. this legislation does not address the real issues which should act as guidelines in assessing refugee situations as they arise. I have some concrete objections to the legislation we will be debating. One of the most obvious is the lack of criteria which will be used in evaluating which refugees and how many will be admitted. There are millions of individuals who could qualify under this bill. but there is no guidance in setting priorities as to those refugees who should be accepted for admission. Another area of concern is the fact that Congress only last year established a Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy to review existing immigration and refugee laws. However. rather than wait for the Commissions report due next year the committee has chosen to recommend substantive changes in these policy areas without the benefit of the Commissions evaluation. Perhaps even more important is the fact that a new refugee policy will. if we pass this legislation. be implemented without any real evaluation of the number of additional refugees or immigrants our country can successfully absorb. We seem to be completely ignoring those areas in the United States which must make adjustments for the influx of these people and we are unwisely failing to face up to some very difficult questions about our Nations ability to accept unlimited numbers of refugees. For example. it would be foolhardy indeed for us to overlook the fact that our Nation is faced with a continuing energy crisis and problems of unemployment and inflation which will only be exacerbated by increasing our population. not only in our larger cities where refugees usually are assimilated more easily. but also in smaller towns and rural areas where the presence of refugees is more obvious. Mr. Speaker.