Speech #970194149

Mr. Speaker. on Tuesday of this week the House. by a vote of 357 to 58. passed H.R. 5879. the Refugee Assistance Amendments of 1982. The passage of this important legislation represented the exercise of sound judgment and good sense. I commend my colleagues for giving the measure such overwhelming support. Although H.R. 5879 serves the important function of reauthorizing appropriations for the resettlement of refugees in the United States. it is more than simply a reauthorization bill. The bill includes a number of provisions which. when read together. establish a single policy goalthe reduction of welfare dependency on the part of refugees. One such provision deals with refugees who are students. Under the bill. full time students at institutions of higher learning would be ineligible for assistance under that program known as refugee cash assistance. This provision parallels a provision in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. which tightened student eligiblity requirements under the aid to families with dependent children program. In tracing the genesis of the welfare eligibility restrictions in H.R. 5879. one will find that it was spawned not so much out of our desire to parallel the AFDC rules as it was out of our need to respond to frequent complaintsprincipally from California officials and taxpayersthat refugees attending college full time were subsidizing their education with refugee cash assistance. The provision in question was added to H.R. 5879 during subcommittee markup on May 5. 1982. Two weeks later. the Office of Refugee Resettlement at HHS issued an action transmittal which substantially incorporated the cash eligibility tightening provision in H.R. 5879. Reducing refugee welfare dependency has been a main objective of my Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law during this Congress. The subcommittee has explored this problem with witness after witness. at hearing after hearing. most recently. at a hearing on April 22 of this year. I am gratified that the administration has finally gotten the message that Congress will not tolerate exorbitant refugee dependency rates and that every effort must be made to reduce them immediately. if the refugee program is to be preserved. On behalf of the Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law. I wish to commend the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and especially its Director. Philip Hawkes. for responding to the subcommittees concern in such a timely and responsible manner. In the months ahead. I and the rest of the subcommittee will work closely with ORR and Mr. Hawkes to continue the essential task of reducing refugee welfare dependency rates. In this regard. I urge not only the Office of Refugee Resettlement. but also the State Department. which contracts with those voluntary agencies which actually resettle refugees. to move forward with a refugee placement policy that builds from the proposed interim placement policy issued several months ago by ORR to incorporate the placement guidelines contained in H.R. 5879. as passed by the House.*