Speech #970074320

Mr. Speaker. I am deeply concerned about the seeming indifference in the administration toward the formulation and implementation of U.S. immigration and refugee policy. To cite but a few examples of many available: At the State Department. no U.S. coordinator for refugee affairs has been appointed. and there is no permanent Director of the Office of Refugee Programs. At the Department of Health and Human Services. the Office of Refugee Resettlement has been relegated to a suboffice within the Social Security Administration. despite the clear congressional intent that this office should be a visible and accountable office reporting directly to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Likewise. guidelines and regulations governing the U.S. refugee resettlement program have yet to be issued by this office and reports required under the Refugee Act have not been submitted. At the Justice Department. a Commissioner for the Immigration and Naturalization Service has still not been appointed and this longterm vacancy has seriously impeded immigration and refugee policymaking in that Department. This casualness and indifference in the administration to one of the most pressing problems facing America and the world today underscores the real need for Congress to take an active part in the development of U.S. refugee policy for the coming year. I am hopeful that the administrations proposal on the numbers and categories of refugees to be admitted during the next fiscal year will be submitted promptly so that the full Judiciary Committee. and my Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees and International Law will be able to play the substantive consultative role contemplated by the 1980 Refugee Act.