Speech #960231088

Mr. Speaker. I am concerned about the lack of a coherent. realistic policy to deal with the growing problem of refugee migrations. This problem has been starkly highlighted recently by the burgeoning flood of people fleeing the tyranny of the stagnating Castro regime in Cuba. In the first 6 months of the current fiscal year. some 9.000 Cuban refugees have come to the United States. Two weeks ago. Castro decided to callously manipulate the flow of those refugees for political and propaganda purposes in response to the embarassment his regime experienced when a crowd of 10.000 defiant Cubans trying to escape from that disastrous Socialist dictatorship took refuge at the Peruvian Embassy in Havana. The result of that decision. in short. has been the arrival of another 21.588 Cuban refugees in Florida between April 26 and May 6. inclusive. of this year. Unfortunately. the administrations response to this crisis has been characterized by confusion. inconsistency. and delay. as usual. Initially. the administration took a hardline position to discourage the growing exodus. Abruptly a 1800 turn occurred. and the President declared the refugees would be welcomed "with open arms." The administrations vacillation on whether certain types of Federal aid would be available for helping the refugees and the terms of its use succeeded in disrupting the work of private voluntary groups in the pressing resettlement effort. It is no surprise that the areas in Florida which have borne the brunt of this refugee influx have now -been declared disaster areas. Most troubling. however. is the fact that the administration has been so slow to realize that the plight of these destitute victims of the Castro regime is clearly a hemispheric. and quite possibly an international. problem. Americans are a generous people who respect the desire for freedom and human dignity which motivates so many of the refugees. Americans are willing to do their part to help alleviate the hardships facing the refugees and to help them make new lives for themselves. But the burden of this humanitarian relief effort must be shared equitably by other countries. too. A number of informed observers believe that as many as several hundred thousand people may leave Cuba over the next few months. headed for the United States.