Speech #970224410

President. I thank the Senator from Wyoming. I acknowledge both the interest and the expertise of the Senator from Kentucky . who has taken very considerable interest in the whole issue of refugees and immigration policy. I do take issue with his recommendation to this body as to how this body and this Nation can best address those particular concerns. I must join with my distinguished colleague. Senator SIMPSON. in opposing the amendment offered by our good friend from Kentucky. I do so because I believe it will be destructive of the important immigration reforms we have proposed in this carefully balanced billa bill that seeks greater control over immigration to our country. without undermining the flexibility of our laws or closing our doors to immigrants and refugees. * By placing refugees and immigrants under a single rigid ceiling. the pending amendment mixes two. totally separate categories of migration. It places us in the position of taking immigration numbers from family reunion cases if we attempt to respond to humanitarian emergencies involving refugees. Under the provisions of this amendment. if our country chooses to accept additional refugees beyond the ceiling. we could do so only if we reduced future immigration numbers for family reunion and other immigrants standing in line around the world. The questions involved in the admission of refugees and immigrants are different. Our response to them must also be different. Immigrants come to our country in a predictable fashion. Under annual ceilings and quotas. Many are admitted under established preferences reflecting our concern for family reunification. They come in an orderly way. with no expenditure of taxpayers funds. And when they apply for admission. or when their American citizen relatives petition for them. they do so knowing they may have to wait. but that they can expect to be admitted on a certain date. Refugees. on the other hand. are admitted under extraordinary circumstances. reflecting the unpredictability of their plight and the urgency of their needs. We cannot foresee who or how many refugees may have a claim upon our attention or concern. Each refugee situation and each refugee must establish why they should be admitted. and why they are "of special humanitarian concern" to the United States. as stipulated by the Refugee Act of 1980. Furthermore. their admission is dependent upon the authorization and appropriation of public funds. The Senator from Kentucky has spoken of the lack of congressional control over the admission of refugees. But the admission of every single refugee to the United States involves the action of at least eight committees of both Houses of Congress. Every year. the Budget committees act to set overall spending ceilings. The authorizing committees act on budget requests. The appropriations committees allocate the funds. and the judiciary committees consult and approve the final admission levels. These steps hardly reflect a lack of congressional control. Some may disagree with the votes and actions of these eight committeesand they may disagree with the verdicts of the Judiciary committees after their consultations with the President on refugee admissionsbut I do not think they can say there is "the flagrant misuse of refugee laws" or that there is a lack of congressional involvement and control over the admission of refugees. In fact. the Refugee Act of 1980 has proven to be a significant new tool in bringing greater order and control to the resettlement of refugees in our country. as all those who have worked in this field agree. No onenot the select commission on immigration and refugee policy. not the Reagan administrations task force on immigration. and not the Judiciary Committees of the House and Senatehas recommended changing the basic terms of the Refugee Act. The law is working well. and the act provides the controls Congress has long needed over the admission of refugees. Reference has been made to the past abuse of the Attorney Generals "parole authority." The Refugee Act explicitly abolished the use by the Attorney General of his parole authority for the admission of refugees. Reference has also been made to the fact that every year the admission of refugees has exceeded the "normal flow" of 50.000. But that figure. Mr. President. was known to be inadequate for the past 2 years when the Refugee Act was written. We knew then. that we were in the midst of responding to the Indochinese refugee emergency. and that the numbers would be larger for the first few years. There was no secret about that. But the numbers are now coming downby more than 50 percent in 2 years. We will soon be near the socalled "normal flow" figurea figure based upon the overall average of the past 20 years. And. beginning this fiscal year. that "normal flow" figure will disappear from lawin accord with the "sunset" amendment of the Senator from Kentucky. So. in the future. the annual authorization for the admission of refugees will be zero. The admission of a single refugee must now be justified by the President and come under the full range of controls established in the Refugee Act. The President must consult. and the judiciary committees must agree. before a single refugee can be admitted. For those who have argued that refugee ceilings have tended to become floors. it should be noted that there will soon be no ceilingthat any figure must be justified each year. Finally. Mr. President. as Justification for this amendment we have heard references to the Cuban influx of 1980to the specter of the uncontrolled influx of tens of thousands of persons. But the fact is that this amendment is irrelevant to that issue. The Cuban influx came outside the Refugee Act. They were not admitted as "refugees." but given a new status called "entrants." If this amendment were law in 1980 it would not have helped in dealing with such a mass influx. since the Cubans were deemed not to be refugees. And even if they were classified as refugees. the terms of this amendment would not address the problemit would only penalize the admission of family reunion and other legal immigrants the following year. and cripple our ability to respond to genuine refugee situations. Other provisions in this bill are designed to help us deal with mass asylum problems. Mr. President. I think it is worthy to note that all the national organizations and voluntary agencies involved in our Nations effort to assist immigrants and refugees for more than 30 years. have unanimously urged the Senate to reject this amendment. I hope we will follow their sound advice. I ask unanimous consent that their views be printed at this point in the RECORD.