Speaker. I am pleased to report to my colleagues that both the New York State Assembly and State Senate approved resolutions urging "immediate passage" of my bill. H.R. 5384. to lift the current numerical limitations on the number of refugees we admit from Poland in Martial law was brutally imposed over the citizens of Poland almost 5 months ago. Prior to the imposition. and very recently since the relaxation of passport rules. thousands of Polish citizens have fled their homeland and are seeking asylum. As the resolutions indicate. "there are already 30.000 Polish refugees in Austria. thousands more can be expected should General Jaruzelski fulfill his promise to relax Polands passport laws." The need for my legislation is based on the fact that there is currently a 9.000 limit on the number of refugees which can be admitted to the United States from all of Eastern Europe. Within that number. there is a further limit of 5.000 refugees from Poland. Just in the first 6 weeks of martial law. more than 1.000 Poles applied for refugee status and on an annualized basis. this could well exceed the limit. I urge my colleagues to give their support to my legislation. for. as the greatest freedomloving Nation in the world. we cannot deny access to any person fleeing tyranny. At this point in the RscoPw.
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refugee seeking asylum refugees