Mr. Speaker. as a Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary. and being from the State of Wisconsin. which contains one of the Cuban refugee camps. I have a special interest in the Cuban refugees and how the Federal Government has handled their entry into this country. On August 8. Philip Kiko and Timothy Sheehy of my staff and I visited the Fort McCoy facility to become better acquainted with the resettlement procedures and operations of a refugee camp. This visit proved to be a real "eye opener" with regards to the lack of coordination. planning. and foresight by the Federal agencies that were. or are. involved at Fort McCoy. I am taking the opportunity of this special order not to criticize the Refugee Act of 1980. which I opposed. or to criticize President Carters handling of the Cuban refugee influx as I have done previously. Instead I am reporting my observations and making recommendations for a more efficient. coordinated approach toward the processing and management of refugees. both the Cubans we are accepting now and other groups that may come here in the future. First. I will outline recommendations intended to improve the situation at Fort McCoy. which probably shares many of the same problems experienced at Fort Chaffee in Arkansas and Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania.
Identified stereotypes
A large percentage of the Cuban refugees are criminals.