Speech #960183375

Chairman. although I understand the intention of this amendment which is to get congressional involvement. I think it is an illconceived amendment. I think it could disrupt the orderly influx of refugees. I think it could totally disrupt the process by which we are absorbing boat people right now. The President has made a determination to take in 14.000 Indochinese refugees a month. That is a total of 168.000 a year. What this amendment would do would be to subject all numbers of boat people over 50.000 a year to a congressional veto. despite the fact that the President has made an international commitment and a commitment to those people on behalf of the United States. I do not think that it would be the intention of Congress to see a wholesale disruption of the program under which we are admitting refugees from Southeast Asia. especially at this time. I would say that this is extremely ill advised. The test of which situations the congressional veto will cover. by the way. is not what the gentleman from California