Speech #960247168

I would like to start off by referring to the first paragraphand ask that the entire text be put in the recordfrom an article in the Chicago SunTimes. March 31. 1980. dateline Jerusalem. The Refugee Act of 1980 liberalizes benefits available to refugees in the United States and is being criticized here by Zionist leaders as a grave threat to Soviet Jewish immigration to Israel. I invite the attention of the members to the additional minority views submitted by myself and Mr. Sawyer to the committee report on the Refugee Act legislation. In it. we addressed a number of Issues the treatment of which we thought was ill conceived and inconsistent in the identification of refugees. the treatment of refugees depending on the area from which they come. and the obvious influence exerted by foreign policy considerations. special interest pressures and not the least. press and media coverage on determining which groups would be favored. In this consultation process. I would like to address four main areas which. I believe. require detailed explanationOne. the question of classifying Soviet Jews as refugees rather than processing them as immigrants. Two. the practice of admitting into the United States Indochinese as refugees who were considered to have been firmly resettled in Western European and other countries. Three. the reason for and the extent to which we are subsidizing travel costs for refugees to other countries through contributions to UNHCR. and Last. the rationale for relegating our prerogative to UNHCR in determining the method of teaching English language and imparting cultural orientation information to Indochinese refugees selected for the United States. On my first point. I grant that the Jews In the Soviet Union are a persecuted group and to that extent would qualify as refugees. However. since they leave the Soviet Union with a valid visa for Israela democratic country striving to sustain its economic and political freedom--a country which accepts these people without equivocationa country which needs these productive immigrantswould we not be doing our ally a tremendous service by encouraging these Soviet Jews to immigrate to Israel instead of allowing them to opt for coming to the United States? Why not. following their admittance to Israel. treat them as all other immigrants should they want to come to the United States? Under the present definition in the Refugee Act. how do these Soviet Jews qualify since they do have an exit permit and a valid visa? Is it not possible for those persons who qualify under our Immigration and Nationality Act to apply for immigrant visas in Israel under our normal preference system? NOow with regard to my second point. it is understood that a number of Indochinese refugees who accepted resettlement in another country. especially in Western Europe. are finding their way to the United States as refugees. Can you explain how these people qualify? If they dont qualify. under what guise are they coming here?