Speech #960250079

President. in this election year. politicians are particularly quick to seize upon advantageous positions. Clearly. there is no political advantage to championing the cause of 100.000 people who cannot speak our language and cannot vote in our elections. As a result. there have been few voices speaking on behalf of the Cuban refugees. while many have spoken out against them. Politicians have followed their constituents lead on this issue. In my travels throughout the State of Missouri. I have heard concern about the Cuban refugees. I have heard resentment expressed about the jobs that Cubans will take and the Government aid they will receive. I have heard youngsters and adults alike. ask. "How can we take care of them when there are so many Americans who are out of work and unable to make ends meet?" This negative reaction is nationwide. A recent Gallup Poll shows that almost 75 percent of the American people think that the Cuban refugee situation is "bad" for our country. I am deeply concerned by this reaction. Under Americas present economic conditions. the search for easily identifiable villains is understandable if not admirable. Inflation. high interest rates. and high unemployment threaten every Americans standard of living. It is not unusual during times of economic decline to personify our problemsto single out a specific group as a source of our troubles and an object of our scorn. We have singled out the Cuban refugees. and scorned them. In Americas past. other groups have served the same purpose. Blacks and Jews have been targets of abuse in times of economic distress. Immigrants. easily distinguishable by language and appearance. have also been derided. When the Irish came to our country they were abused. not welcomed. by those who had come before them. Now we have been asked to receive 100.000 refugees from Castros Cuba. It is my understanding that perhaps a thousand of that number are hardened criminals. taken from Cuban jails and shipped off to our shores. They constitute exactly 1 percent of the refugees. yet they have received easily 90 percent of our attention. That. too. is understandable if not admirable. If we really want to adopt a "lifeboat" mentalitybelieving that any more passengers will cause us all to sinkthen it is easier to kick overboard the people we do not like. If we can convince ourselves that the refugees are badthat they are the scum of Cuban society. inmates from jails and mental institutionsit will be easier to sacrifice them. But a lifeboat mentality is alien to everything this country stands for. And it distorts our reception of the refugees. presenting a selfish. bitter attitude that is unnatural to American people. We should all be able to agree on how to handle those Cuban refugees who do have criminal histories. If there is any practical way to do so. we should not accept them in the United States. We should deport them. Similarly. we should all be able to agree how to handle the rioters at Fort Chaffee. They should be dealt with as violators of the law. and prosecuted just as any other rioter should be prosecuted. My principal concern is for the other 99 percent of the refugees. those Cubans who have fled Castros Cuba because it is politically repressive and economically bankrupt. These people do not deserve contemptthey deserve admiration. They are hardworking and productive. They are the lifes blood of Cuba. lifes blood that is flowing away from that country. and from a failed Communist experiment. They are leaving because they have been treated as experimental objects. Some Americans say that all the Cuban refugees should be sent back to their country. If in fact the United States were to follow that advice. the outcome is easy to forecast. These people would face political and economic persecution by the state. They would be subjected to the worst type of police state measures. In the past. when Cubans have sought governmental permission to leave their country. they have been officially designated as "nonpersons." They have lost their jobs. they have lost their ration coupons. they have faced threats and public ridicule. and they have been forced to rely on the charity of their friends to survive. This is what would happen to Cuban refugees if they were repatriated to Cuba. I do not believe that thoughtful Americans would want that result for those Cubans who have violated no law. engaged in no riots. and who have left Cuba in the hope that America could be their home. People who feel threatened by current economic conditions in the United States say that accommodating the refugees will result in some loss to the rest of us. If that were true. then we might have reason to be concerned about the influx. However. if this great country of more than 220 million people cannot accommodate even 100.000 Cubans. then we are indeed in bad shape.