I thank the Chair. I believe it is important to put the Senate on record on the simple question: Should the United States continue with a minimum Indochinese refugee resettlement program. which in turn guarantees refugee protection. through the end of the decade? This is an important question. especially now as negotiations are under way for a possible settlement to the Cambodia question. I believe that if the United States does not go on record now. assuring the firstasylum countries of our commitment for the next 3 years. then it is just possible that at the moment Cambodia is close to resolution. hundreds of thousands of refugees will be forced back to their homelands before safety guarantees are in place. and I do not believe anyone wants that. Mr. President. for the past 7 years there has not been a single debate on the Senate floor concerning the U.S. Governments policy toward refugees in Southeast Asia. There has been an informal agreement in effect here that once the Senate passed the Refugee Act of 1980. our refugee work was completed. the refugee program was safely on automatic pilot. and every Senator not on the authorizing subcommittee could close the files on Indochina and go on to other business. Let me read you a sampling of recent news clips on the deteriorating refugee situation in Southeast Asia: September 6. San Diego Union newspaper headline. "Asian Refugees Face a New Tragedy". September 14. MinneapolisSt. Paul Star Tribune headline. "Refugees in Peril. Basic Rights Erode". and a related article the same day entitled "Camp life [in Thailand]: Unrelieved Danger. Despair". then.
Keywords matched
Refugees Refugee refugee refugees