Speech #1000080332

The primary victims of these land mines. the State Department asserts. are civilians. "rehabilitation services for civilians are extremely limited." the booklet says. and goes on to state that "employment opportunities are extremely limited". as well. The State Department itself acknowledges the dangers noncombatants face in El Salvador. The economic situation in El Salvador is bad and likely to get worse. if the Reagan administration insists on denying Salvadoran refugees legal status. President Duarte himself has pleaded to President Reagan to grant a stay of deportation for Salvadorans residing in the United States. stressing that every year the Salvadoran economy receives $500 million in remittances which these Salvadorans send home from their present jobs. Mr. Speaker. the government of El Salvador. our ally. needs this bill every bit as much as those tragic victims of the Salvadoran civil war. This reality. of which the Reagan administration has been made abundantly aware. raises a paradox. If both the people of El Salvador and the government of El Salvador support a stay of deportation for Salvadoran refugees. then why has President Reagan opposed such a move? The answer. Mr. Speaker. is politics. To recognize that the people of El Salvador have legitimate reasons to flee their country is to acknowledge the instability of the Salvadoran Government. the Presidents "showcase of democracy" in Central America. Nicaraguan refugees were granted stays of deportation in order to highlight the persecution of the Nicaraguan people by the Sandinista government. and to attempt to prove that the Contras are making a difference by causing instability in the Nicaraguan Government. Mr. Speaker. we should not be making these decisions to satisfy political aims. For our country to remain the symbol of democracy we profess it to be. it is essential that we give amnesty to all refugees. and not just those for whom doing so would mesh with the political doctrine of the current administration. Let us imagine what would have happened if our predecessors in Congress had denied admission to those immigrants that had arrived from Eastern Europe on the same basis as it has denied admission to Salvadoran refugees. To do so would have meant the end of Americas symbol as a beacon of democracy. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 618. not only for ourselves. but for our country and all that it stands for. as well.