Mr. President. I am offering an amendment to the pending legislation that would restore funding for the Emergency Immigrant Education Assistance Act [EIEA] to the fiscal year 1986 funding levels. Enacted in 1984. this program has provided valuable assistance to help school districts in 31 States across the Nation to purchase special textbooks. conduct teacher training programs. construct or restore school facilities. offer guidance and counseling services. and undertake other activities to help meet the special needs of immigrant children. In California. where about 30 to 40 percent of the immigrants entering the United States reside. there has been an influx of immigrants hailing from rural areas with subsistence economies. especially Southeast Asia. For example. a Laotian tribe called the Hmong has relocated virtually in its entirety in the central San Joaquin Valley in my State. The Hmongs skills are limited to those they used in the subsistence farming they performed for centuries in their native country. An extremely high percentage of the Hmong are on county welfare rolls. The task of educating the immigrant childrenparticularly those that have lived a near feudal existence prior to coming to Americahas placed a heavy burden on many States. including California. If Federal funding for immigrant education was eliminated. over 420.000 children would be adversely affected and the valuable supplementary education services provided by State and local education agencies would be jeopardized. Indeed. absent this funding. many immigrant education programs which have already been established would face termination. Mr. President. to teach immigrant children the English language and provide them with the necessary education to adjust to American life is both essential and practical. Welleducated children. be they immigrant or nativeborn. grow up to become integral members of our society and become productive. Ours has always been a nation of immigrants. It is the source of our strength. the source of our greatest resource. The humanity we display toward newcomers to our shores is a measure of the greatness of this Nation.
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