Speech #1010069283

Mr. Speaker. it would seem that the mass exodus from East Germany through Hungary is yet another triumph for freedom and democracy. to be greeted with enthusiasm by the United States. Throughout the cold war and beyond. one of the highest priorities in American policy toward the Soviet bloc has been to secure freer emigration from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for those individuals who have faced religious and political persecution in their homeland. Unfortunately for those East Germans. like Soviet Jews and Poles and other Eastern Europeans leaving their countries in droves. the liberalization of Soviet bloc emigration policy has come at a bad time. As refugees are fleeing Communist nations in unprecedented numbers. the United States has not fulfilled its role in this immigration aspect of glasnost. For the most part. positive developments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union have been met by supportive American reactions. evidenced by successful nuclear arms reductions and easing of military tension in Europe. However. one aspect of glasnost. the liberalization of emigration policy. has gone conspicuously unanswered by an appropriate U.S. response. I believe the first step in the response is raising the refugee ceiling for fiscal year 1990. Despite the undeniable progress toward democracy in the Soviet bloc. political and religious persecution and oppression is still alive behind the Iron Curtain. Finally given the chance. hundreds of thousands have sought freedom in the West. The fiscal year 1989 ceilings for refugees from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union6.500 and 25.000 respectivelyhave proven drastically insufficient. In the first 9 months of fiscal year 1989. 70.000 Soviet and 38.000 Eastern Europeans applied for refugee status to enter the United States. This number does not even consider the huge number of emigres who fled to a second nation in Western Europe. with the ultimate goal of reaching America. The West German Embassy informed me that West Germany. with one quarter of the United States population. accepted 180.000 Soviet bloc refugees from January through July 1989. In comparison. the administrations yearly ceiling for refugees from the Soviet bloc was 43.500. after a midyear upward adjustment. In short. the restrictive refugee ceilings lead to a rigorous application process in which the United States turns away a great number of refugees that our country once accepted with open arms. In days before budgetary restrictions began undermining Americas ability to carry out our foreign policy. the United States authorized over 500.000 refugees from Southeast Asia from 1980 to 1984. But now that the Iron Curtain Is down. a new barrier. caused by budget restraints. is preventing an adequate refugee policy.