Speech #990050341

Mr. Chairman. I rise today in opposition to the Sensenbrenner amendment to H.R. 1452. the refugee assistance reauthorization bill. This amendment would eliminate the $50 million authorization in fiscal years 1986 and 1987 for targeted assistance to areas with large refugee populations. The district which I represent in Ramsey County. MN contains one of the largest refugee populations of any urban area in the United States. Most of these refugees have come from Southeast Asia. from Vietnam. Cambodia. and Laos. but others have also arrived from Ethiopia. Cuba. Central America. and the Soviet Union. Today. there are over 26.000 Indochinese refugees living in Minnesota. Fortyone percent of these people live in St. Paul and the remainder live in the surrounding MinneapolisSt. Paul metropolitan area. Many of these are Hmong refugees who came to the United States from the mountains of Southeast Asia. The first Hmong families arrived in Minnesota in 1976. By 1980. the MinneapolisSt. Paul area had the largest concentration of Hmong in the United States. These refugees came to Minnesota because the people of our State. working through their churches or synagogues. as well as various private social service agencies. opened their doors to people who were in need of a new home. For the Hmong. it meant escaping political persecution and death in their homeland. The generosity of the people of Minnesota has enabled hundreds of refugees to begin new lives in their newlyadopted country. But the task of resettlement for refugees has not been an easy one either for the refugees and their families or for the communities which have welcomed these new arri:.als. The influx of Southeast Asian refugees has placed severe demands upon our State and local government to provide housing. health care. education. and special training in learning the English language. and help refugees to find jobs. All of these social services cost money. Since 1983. Congress has appropriated funds to assist communities in providing these services for refugees. In December. 1983. Ramsey County. MN was one of 18 counties in the Nation found by the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS] to be highly impacted by the arrival of new refugees. This designation has made Ramsey County eligible to receive approximately $800.000 in targeted assistance. Neighboring Hennepin CountyMinneapolisalso receives about $600.000 in targeted assistance under this program. In my view. these dollars have been wellspent in helping newly arrived refugees to become selfsufficient contributing members of our society. Today in St. Paul. there are restaurants and stores which are owned by Hmong and Vietnamese refugees who arrived in our city only a few years ago. These refugees have demonstrated repeatedly that given a chance to stand on their own two feet that they can enrich our local economy and make our community a better place to live. The impact of a large influx of refugees upon public services should not be underestimated. In 1975. the Asian population in the St. Paul public schools was less then 2 percent. Today 3.100 or over 11 percent of the students in our public schools are Asian. The demands upon our public schools to continue meeting the special needs of refugee students will continue for the forseeable future. Over 56 percent of the Hmong population in Minnesota is under the age of 17. We must be prepared to meet their special needs so that they can gain the skills they need to find jobs. Some 2.658 students in the St. Paul schools are enrolled in English as a second language [ESLI program. Refugees also face unique obstacles in becoming members of a new and very different snciety. One survey showed that more than 65 percent of the Hmong who were admitted to Ramsey County Hospital were suffering from varying degrees of mental depression largely attributable to their status as refugees. Refugees often have other medical and health care needs related to their status which must be addressed. We are proud of the social service network. including both public and private organizations. which exists in Minnesota and which has met the pressing human needs of newly arrived refugees in our community. But our local government should not have to go it alone when they assume responsibility for welcome large numbers of refugees to their communities. Targeted assistance for these communities is essential if we intend to help our refugees adapt to our society as they must. I hope that my colleagues will join me in defeating the Sensenbrenner amendment.