Speech #960201784

I will never be able to forget the sights of starving and dying peoplemen. women. and most tragically. children. Currently. several hundred thousand Kampucheans are living in these camps. The number of new refugees continues to multiply daily. One of my most serious concerns is that the Vietnamese army might attack the camps. resulting in the mass slaughter of a larger number of inhabitants. I believe that a U.N. presence would be a valuable deterrent to such an attack. A second grave concern of mine is that the food and medical supplies provided by international relief agencies are not always being distributed to the refugees for whom they were intended. Frequent allegations have been made that a large percentage of the supplies are being confiscated by armed factions within the camps and being distributed only to soldiers fighting for those factions. In my view. a U.N. presence at the camps would help to insure that the refugees are receiving the aid in an equitable manner. Mr. Speaker. I believe that our Government has an obligation to help put an end to the nightmare which has befallen the Kampuchean people. We must insure that adequate relief supplies are being sent to these refugees. We must continue to permit a reasonable number of refugees to enter the United States for permanent resettlement. Finally. we must work actively in the international forum for various actions which will protect the refugees from further tragedy. I believe that a U.N. presence in the camps would accomplish this last goal. and I urge my colleagues to support Senate Concurrent Resolution 72.0