Mr. Chairman. first let me commend the chairman of the subcommittee and the ranking minority member for their continued efforts in seeing to it that this very important legislation. the Refugee Assistance Extension Act of 1985. is adopted by this House. They have worked hard and I believe have brought forth the kind of measure that is bipartisan in its support. Last year in the 98th Congress a similar bill. which was H.R. 3729. was approved by the House by 300to99 vote. And I believe the only reason why that bill finally did not see the light of day. was not enacted finally by the Congress. was because the Senate found some disagreement over the extent to which voluntary agencies should be responsible for refugees they resettled. I believe that this bill answers and addresses that problem and hopefully it will pass this body. I am also hopeful that other body will immediately address this bill. give it the attention it deserves. and finally we will see a refugee reauthorization bill enacted Into law. While the chairman and the ranking member have outlined the purposes of the bill and the various items contained in the bill. I would like to point to two of the purposes of this bill that are significiant and Important. First and foremost it continues through fiscal years 1986 and 1987 the authority to fund the domestic resettlement of refugees. The funds authorized by this bill will be spent on various refugee resettlement activities. The vast majority of the funds in this bill will be expended on reimbursing State and local governments for the costs that they will incur in providing cash and medical assistance to needy refugees during their first 3 years in this country. It will also fund social services projects such as English language and job training. which are so important. once these refugees come into the American communities. It will provide up to $50 million in targeted assistance or. if you will. "impact aid" to localities heavily impacted by refugee populations. It will also provide the funds necessary to provide health screening and initial medical treatment to the refugee population to insure both that refugee medical problems are diagnosed and treated properly and early. and that the public health is not compromised by refugee admissions. The second purpose which I think is important and I think is addressed by this legialtion is to finetune the Refugee Act of 1980. That legislation has proven to be a fair and workable mechanism for the selection. admission. and resettlement of refugees. However. we find that in all cases there are certain areas that have to be addressed after we adopt legislation because changing circumstances and realworld experiences dictate the need for change. And this we have done. Most of the changes that are contemplated in this bill are directed toward reducing the refugee welfare dependency rates. I think the gentleman from California and the gentleman from Kentucky have pointed this out to the satisfaction of the Members of this House. For example. the bill would require refugees to go to properly authorized job interviews. Other changes are designed to streamline the administration of the program. One of the provisions that I think is of particular importance to point out concerns the socalled matchinggrant program which provides for the resettlement of Soviet Jews and Eastern European refugees. That program. which. by all accounts. has been extremely costeffctive. sensible. and fair. has been for some unfathomable reason targeted for termination by the administration. This bill would prohibit the termination of that especially important matchinggrant program. And I think it is important that we recognize the matchinggrant program as an essential ingredient of our refugee assistance programs. Let me point out that this legislation deals only with the domestic aspects of our refugee program. It does not attempt to redefine the term "refugee" or alter the manner in which refugees are selected or determine which refugees will be admitted to the United States. All in all I think this is certainly a measure that deserves the support of the House of Representatives. the other body. and the President of the United States. I would like to point out. before I close. Mr. Chairman. that. anticipating that some of the Members of the House are going to offer an amendment imposing a budgetary freeze on the refugee program. I think this would be a mistake. in view of the fact that the very essential ingredient of the Refugee Assistance Act as we enacted it was to have flexibility. We would lose all power over flexibility to be able to at least relate the admissions that might take place to the moneys that are to be expended. As a result. for this very reason we adopted a provision that provided for a flexible arrangement so that the President. after consulting with the Congress. would set a ceiling on refugee admissions each year. If we adopt the amendment which is going to be offered by the gentleman from Michigan or the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. MoliisoN] which would require a budgetary freeze. I think we would be effectively removing from the President the ability to respond to unforeseen refugee emergencies. because If the money is not available to resettle them they will not be admitted. For that reason. although I am not going to be here at the time that the gentleman will be offering that amendment. I think that we ought to pause and think about it.
Keywords matched
Refugee refugee refugees