Speech #960175465

Mr. Chairman. I am pleased today to bring to the House H.R. 2816. the Refugee Act of 1979. which was approved overwhelmingly by the Judiciary Committee and reported on November 9. 1979. This legislation. introduced by Chairman RODINO and myself in March. represents a comprehensive effort to revise and rationalize our laws relating to the admission of refugees to the United States and to provide effective domestic resettlement assistance after their arrival in this country. This bill is an important first step in responding to an international problem of staggering proportions. Although the United States has a noble record of humanitarian concern for the worlds homeless. we have up to this time had no overall policy to respond to refugee situations as they have arisen. Instead. we have been forced to enact special legislationas we did after World War IIor use a combination of the limited conditional entry provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Attorney Generals parole authorityas we have done for the past 20 years. This haphazard. ad hoc policy has been further constrained by the antiquated definition of "refugee" in present law which limits admissions to those fleeing Communist countries and the Middle East. This ad hoc response to refugee problems has not only caused inordinate delays in admissions and led to great human suffering on the part of the refugees themselves. but has made longrange planning by States and voluntary agencies involved in the resettlement process virtually impossible. The bill before the House today will resolve these problems. it will mandate equity in our treatment of all refugees. it will bring us into conformity with our international legal obligations. it will provide set procedures for admission. and it will create a more effective and less costly method of resettlement. This is not a simple piece of legislation. It is a complicated response to an almost insoluble problem. My Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law held 5 long days of hearings on the bill in May of this year. in addition to numerous other hearings and briefings on the Indochinese refugee crisis in general. We heard from three members of the Cabinet---Secretary of State Vance. Attorney General Bell. and Secretary of HEW Califanoin addition to the U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs and over 40 other witnesses. We heard from the States. including Gov. Robert Ray of Iowa. chairman of the National Governors Association Task Force on Refugees. We heard from voluntary agency officials and individuals involved in particular resettlement programs. We heard from organized labor and from concerned citizens such as the distinguished black leader. Bayard Rustin. And we also heard from experts on methods used by other nations to admit and absorb refugees. All of these witnesses strongly supported the Refugee Act of 1979. From this voluminous hearing record and after 2 days of markup. the Judiciary Committee fashioned the bill which we bring before you today. In this regard.