Speech #990024986

I thank the gentleman for yielding to me. Mr. Chairman. the Barnes amendment provides a oneshot authorization of $10 million to support Nicaraguan refugees in Honduras and Costa Rica. That money is only a tiny fraction of what it will take to help the new Barnes plan refugees. The Barnes plan will increase the number of refugees from Nicaragua. The plan creates a serious longterm refugee problem. but provides only a small amount of money for a short term to deal with the problem. If we adopt the illadvised Barnes plan. we should prepare ourselves for a longterm and probably massive commitment to refugee relief. and perhaps even to resettlement in the United States. There are sound reasons to anticipate a major increase in the refugee problem. Recent history in Afghanistan and El Salvador should be enough to convince us that the problem is real. As economic and political conditions deteriorate under the Sandinista regime. the exodus from Nicaragua will continue. We have already seen the increase in Nicaraguan young men escaping the Sandinista military draft. We could easily be faced with an exodus proportionate to that of the Vietnamese and Afghans. I remind you that it is estimated that onethird of the Afghans now are refugees. There are about 180.000 Nicaraguans already in Costa Rica and Honduras. The Foreign Minister of Costa Rica told a House Intelligence Committee delegation last week that there are now over 150.000 Nicaraguans in Costa Rica. and that there are many others on their way. Costa Ricans already are complaining that this has caused a substantial drain on their economy. In Honduras the number of known Nicaraguan refugees has doubled in the past year. The general policy of both Costa Rica and El Salvador is to resist incorporating the refugees into their societies because they fear the political economic consequences. Permanent refugees will have to be resettled elsewhere. and the United States may end up having to accept a large number of them. Lets consider for a moment the costs of sustaining refugees in Central America. Right now. only about 30.000 of the 180.000 or more Nicaraguan refugees in Honduras and Costa Rica may be receiving U.S. or U.N. aid. Currently the U.N. program supporting mainly Nicaraguan and Salvadoran refugees In Costa Rica has a budget of $7 million and helps 12.000 refugees. In short. in Costa Rica the United Nations is spending $600 per refugee. and is reaching only a fraction of the actual number of refugees. I wont assume the worst casethat onethird of Central Americans would flee communism. as in Afghanistan. Instead. suppose that 10 percent might do so. From Nicaragua alone we can bet on 300.000 additional refugees as the Sandinistas continue their repression. As things get worse under the Barnes plan. we could anticipate the necessity of helping 1 million refugees. At an estimated $600 cost per refugee. sustaining them in Central America simply for a year might cost $900 million. If $10 million from the Barnes plan is added to existing U.S. and U.N. refugee aid for Honduras and Costa Rica. the current total will be $32 million. The Barnes plan is not even close. Mr. Chairman. not even close. If the Barnes plan Is going to increase the flood of refugeesas it surely willthe Barnes plan ought to include the real cost of taking care of them. not a puny $10 million drop in the bucket.