Speech #1010031192

Mr. President. is that it seeks to address the needs of a specific group of political asyleesNicaraguansin the context of a program which was not intended to meet their needs. The Targeted Assistance Program is one component of refugee assistance programs which are authorized under the Refugee Act of 1980. That act provides a procedure for the annual admission of refugees into the United States. and authorizes Federal assistance to resettle those refugees and to promote their selfsufficiency. The total annual number of refugee admissions and the allocation of these numbers among regions of the world and/ or refugee groups are determined at the beginning of each fiscal year by the President after consultation with Congress. Funding decisions regarding refugee resettlement programs should correlate with those admission numbers. Primarily due to the refugee crisis in Indochina and United States interests in that area. this region has admitted large numbers of refugees since the enactment of the Refugee Act. The Targeted Assistance Program has provided an especially important service to this population because it has allowed local governments to offer educational and training programs designed to lead to the economic and social selfsufficiency of these refugees. This process which I have just explained. Mr. President. contrasts with the situation for those seeking political asylum in this country. Political asylum is granted on a casebycase basis. Thus. the funding decisions which are made for refugee programswhich should correlate with refugee admissionshave never taken political asylees into consideration. Let me reiterate. Mr. President. that under the Refugee Act of 1980 our admissions policies for refugees is distinct from our policies regarding political asylees. This distinction is crucial with regard to the provision contained in H.R. 2072 because funding for refugee programs is not adequate for those intended to be served. and yet H.R. 2072 proposes allocating very limited refugee resources based on a populationpolitical asyleeswhich have never been included in funding calculations. California has especially felt the burden of limited Federal resources for refugees. For example. in Los Angeles County TAP funding per refugee arrival has fallen from $1.362 in fiscal year 1983. to $171 in fiscal year 1988. Additionally. TAP funds appropriated for fiscal year 1989 are currently being held up pending the finalization of a new allocation formula proposed by the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the Department of Health and Human Services and. as a result. a number .if Targeted Assistance Programs haie been terminated. Given the problems with securing adequate funding for Targeted Assistance Programs. and the fact that President Bush has proposed eliminating this program in his 1990 budget. it makes no sense at all to propose allocating very limited TAP resources to accommodate an even larger population than that currently served. As I said previously.