Speech #1000012820

Mr. President. the Supreme Court this week vigorously upheld our Nations proud tradition of providing political asylum to the persecuted in its decision in Immigration and Naturalization Service versus CardozaFonseca. At stake was a matter truly of life and death as the Court reviewed the administrations overwraught and unduly restrictive conduct in the denial of asylum to many oppressed persons who fear persecution upon return to their homelands. In 1980. the Congress appropriately sided with the persecuted in adopting the Refugee Act. We clearly stated that where the matter of asylum is concerned. America should take no chancesthose who have a "wellfounded fear of persecution" should not and must not be returned to their countries. In the past few years. the administration has sought to evade this standard which is so widely accepted around the world today. As the Court noted. INS practice in recent years has been to apply an overly rigid "clear probability" standard. under which asylum applicants were required to present evidence which proved beyond doubt that they would be subjected to persecution if deported. This was never the intent of Congress. and I say this as the floor manager and chief sponsor of the Refugee Act of 1980. Justice Stevens is to be commended for delivering this important opinion of the Court. It certainly reflects the spirit of the Congress work now 7 years ago. as Justice Stevens found: In enacting the Refugee Act of 1980 Congress sought to "give the United States sufficient flexibility to respond to situations involving political or religious dissidents and detainees throughout the world." H.R. Rep. 9. . . . Whether or not a "refugee" is eventually granted asylum is a matter which Congress has left for the Attorney General to decide. But it is clear that Congress did not intend to restrict eligibility for that relief to those who could prove that it is more likely than not that they will be persecuted if deported. Mr. President.