That is the current time lapse from the time he applies to the time when he can get in10 years. The distinguished committee chairman said that we should not discriminate between one person and another person. Now. it is a fact that the Soviet refugees--and there are thousands of themcan get into this country in 31/2 months. I take that back. maybe it is 41/2 to 5 months. But it takes 31/2 months to get an exit visa from the Soviet Union. depending on the mood of the commissars of the Soviet Union. whether they want to make an extra effort to win the goodwill of this country and get mostfavorednation treatment or to get JacksonVanik removed. If they do. they will open the floodgates and permit the thousands of Soviet refugees of Jewish faith to leave. Many of these people. 60 percent of them. want to come to the United States. the rest will go to Israel. Many of them come here. and God bless them. Who would want to live in the Soviet Union when one has an opportunity to come to the United States? But we have a problem with Filipinos and other nationals who must wait 10 years to get in here. I think at some point we have to look at this problem and decide whether we are doing Israel any favor by facilitating twothirds of the Soviet refugees to come here and only onethird to go to Israel when Israel desperately needs these people and wants them. I have interviewed these families. I have seen some of these families in Rome. and I have talked to our immigration people in Vienna and elsewhere. It is a problem. I do not have any answers. But when we talk about fairness. we should recognize that some people are immigrants and not refugees. and we are labeling everybody as refugees. Mr. Chairman. having said thatand I certainly do not. I repeat. have any easy answersI would point out that I think it is a problem we will have to face at some time. but I do not think we should penalize the immigrants because of an aberrationaland I hope it is only aberrationalsituation in the world at a time when we have so many refugees-
Keywords matched
immigration immigrants visa refugees