Mr. Speaker. I wish to announce that the Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law which I chair has scheduled 3 days of public hearings to consider the reauthorization of the Refugee Act of 1980. which expires this year. The hearing dates are June 7. 9. and The June 7 hearing will be devoted to the legal interpretations and applications of the refugee definition which is set forth in the Refugee Act of 1980. The witnesses for the hearings will include representatives of the Office of the Legal Counsel and the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Refugee Programs and the Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in the Department of State. We will also receive testimony from the U.S. Coordinator for Refugee Affairs. During the June 9 hearing we will consider the need for legislation to extend the authorization of funding for domestic resettlement programs under the Refugee Act of 1980. Regrettably. the administration has not. at this time. submitted their legislative proposal to accomplish this objective. For this reason. I am today introducing a bill which provides a simple 3year extension of funding authority for refugee resettlement activities. This legislation is meant only as a . vehicle for the hearings we have scheduled in the event the administrations proposal is not timely submitted to Congress. My final views on the subject and those of my subcommittee colleagues will be developed during this series of legislative and oversight hearings.
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Refugees Immigration Refugee Naturalization refugee