Speech #970194299

Mr. Speaker. the United States continues to be by far the most generous country in the world in the resettlement of refugees. Just recently. we admitted the 600.000th Indochinese refugee since the fall of Saigon in 1975. a tribute to our countrys humanitarian spirit. And last week. this House overwhelmingly passed the Refugee Assistance Amendments of 1982. H.R. 5879. a bill to extend the refugee programs for 1 additional year. Unfortunately. the refugee resettlement efforts in recent years have been far from successful. Though we continue to admit large numbersan estimated 100.000 refugees this fiscal year aloneour efforts at placing them in jobs and making sure they are healthy have been less than sterling. A full 70 percent of the refugees admitted within the last 3 years are on welfare. Tuberculosis and other diseases are much too common among the refugees. State and local governments. even in their compassionate decisions to accept refugees. are growing more and more frustrated with these failures in the resettlement program. The bill we passed last week which was developed by my Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law. will take some major steps toward reducing these resettlement problems. The bill directs refugees toward jobs and away from welfare. It increases coordination between the Federal Government and the voluntary agencies. on one hand. which admit and place the refugees. and the State and local governments on the other hand which have to live with the consequences of these admission decisions. And it provides more funding for training refugees in English and other basic work skills and for local governments which must deal with the health impacts of arriving refugees. Recently. the General Accounting Office provided by subcommittee with preliminary results of a study it is doing at my request on refugee resettlement. While I do not wish to create any unnecessary concern. the report points out that health problems among refugees are substantial. Tuberculosis rates are often 20 times higher among refugees than among the general population. Fortunately. our excellent public health system has been able to deal with this potentially serious danger. but not without some costs. There are dollar costs. because treatment and monitoring of refugeesand those with whom they come in contactis expensive. The new refugee bill provides $14 million to local governments for health screening and medial treatment. There are also human costs. for when a tubercular refugee comes in contact with an American citizen threatening the health of that citizen. a pattern of resentment develops that is good for no one. Refugees deserve our compassion. They are and will continue to be positive contributors to our society. However. we must also be aware of their problems. and must be sure that while we are being soft hearted and generous in our admissions policy. we are being hard headed and pracitcal in our resettlement efforts. A recent article in the Washington Post outlined some of the difficulties in Arlington County. Va.. arising form tuberculosis health problems among refugees. This piece underlines my belief that the Federal Government should be unwilling to admit refugees until they have been treated abroad for tuberculosis and are rendered totally noninfectious. In the months ahead. as my subcommittee continues its oversight of the refugee program. we will be watching this health issue very closely. For the benefit of my colleagues. I am including a copy of the Washington Post article at the conclusion of my remarks. [From the Washington Post.