Chairman. I would like to commend the gentleman from Texas for his statement in support of this amendment. Those who are opposed to this amendment seem to wish to portray the supporters of the amendment as cold and hardhearted and those who wish to turn their backs on refugees. I do not think the gentleman from Texas and I know this gentleman from Wisconsin. do not fit into that stereotype. But the fact of the matter remains that the Committee on the Judiciary has not attempted to coordinate our refugee policy with our immigration policy. Both refugees and immigrants are guests who are leaving their own countries. and are coming here for permanent resettlement. This country cannot afford to put up with the dreamworld that the refugee policy is over in one section of the statute book and the immigration policy over in the other section of the statute book and neer the twain shall meet. At a time when our unemployment rate is going up. when we are spending about $1 billion per year for refugee resettlement costs. the people of the United States are warm. they are hospitable. but there also is a limit to how much we can afford at a time of rampant inflation and deficit budgets. Now. I have not heard any of my friends who have opposed this amendment come up with any kind of a way to mesh the immigration policies. there has not been one proposal during consideration of this bill. except this one. to have any kind of a meshing of the refugee policy with the policy relating to nonrefugee immigrants. I am attempting to do that.
Keywords matched
immigrants immigration refugee refugees