Speech #1000107006

Mr. President. this is not a cause for the dogooders. I hate to even see such language put in print. let alone indicate some official status of this particular letter from the then Deputy Coordinator of Refugee Programs. dated January 2. 1985. I think it reflects a lot of peoples thinking. I am not saying he is alone on this. He is writing from the Embassy of the United States of America in Bangkok. Thailand. and keep in mind. he was representing the United States and implementing its refugee policy. In the second paragraph of this letter to his successor. he says: You will come in with a great advantage: you are not I. This will give you something of a honeymoon with JVA. voluntary agencies. UNHCR. and the assorted other dogooders who believe the US role in Thailand is to take every last person who claims to be a refugee. As you are aware. our processing is way down. we are continuing to cut staff. and all of our talk has been directed to getting across the idea that the refugee program. as it has benefitted the hangerson for years. is drawing to a close. and the new era will see greater application of refugee criteria and an increased emphasis on immigration. Many believe that I have been the architect of this change. and while I would like to take credit. it is not all my doing. I wish you luck in carrying through the process of dismantling the operation while not making the enemies I did. Well. that is one attitude. and I do not deny people their own perceptions. even members of our Foreign Service. But I would argue with them on those perceptions. I am sure that many of our body have been in refugee camps. I do not think anybody in this body would say they are a pleasant place. I cannot imagine that anybody who has been in any refugee camps would feel there is anything but a call to all of us to try to eliminate the problem. In 1968. on the floor of the Senate. I made a speech about refugees in the Middle East. I stated then and I would restate now. that there will never be peace in the Middle East until the Palestinian refugee problem is addressed. That brings down the ire of some people. too. But that is still a human problem.