Speech #1000107002

Irena Kirkland. Edward Schmults. Gale McGee. a fine friend and former professor of mine and former Senator from Wyoming. a superb foreign policy person. and Jonathan Moore. present refugee coordinator. They went and they looked and they observed. and they were from all ideological bents. They all came back with a new view of Southeast Asia and said that more and more of the people there are seeking greater freedom and greater economic opportunity. They are economic migrants. not refugees. That may not mean anything to anybody. I know it is tough. but that is the way it is. Their April report said: The persons fleeing today are no longer predominantly persons who were associated with the United States nor does it appear that the majority have been singled out for harsher treatment than that generally suffered by the rest of the population. Far more appear to be taking this perilous journey in search of economic and political freedom or to be reunited with family members. There is nothing wrong with that. but you cannot call them refugees. and when you do. you distort the Refugee Act. I think it is a good act. It was put on the books when I was in the minority here. Senator KENNEDY was one who helped put that together. I helped to support it. This must be said: We have protected first asylum by leading the world in resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees. Sixty percent of all of them resettled in the world today came here. Yet. here it is stated that we have not done enough. We have done 800.000 human beings worth. more than everybody else in the world entire combined. And our loveliest allies. Canada and Australia. are telling us that the flow is over. and yet we continue to whip up new numbers and a new bureaucracy for a certain specific area of the world where we have Southeast Asian refugees. Now. this added finding provision I think is quite disturbing. It says our policies have led to a steady flight of refugees from these countries. Let me tell you this. and I hope this will also be heard: Also. whenever we crank up our resettlement program. and we do periodically because of the pressure. not from those countries but from voluntary agencies and people working in that area of the world. and that is a very real thing you do not want to miss. There is a crankup operation.