Speech #980066987

I thank the gentleman for yielding. I appreciate the statements that he has made and the study that he has invested in this part of the world. I would ask the gentleman: It is my understanding that there are presently some 500.000 Salvadorans who can be classified as refugees from the struggle which is now taking place in El Salvador. I understand that about 200.000 of those people are now residing in Los Angeles. I can recall reading an article the other day in one of the local newspapers which was entitled. "The President Invokes the Old Immigration Argument." It appears to me that in fact this Nation has become a refuge. not only for Salvadorans. but for families. for Afghans and for a number of people across this world who have been forced. perhaps because the United States did not take the right steps when they could have taken them. did not make the investments that they should have made at an earlier time in the game. These refugees have openly sought refuge in the last great haven of democracy. and that is the United States. So. I think that the point that the gentleman from Ohio is making is a welldocumented point.