Speech #1010082072

I was disappointed to see the administration claim that monetary constraints prevent the President from committing adequate resources to the war on drugs. However. I was astonished to read Attorney General Dick Thornburghs excuse for President Bushs handling of the refugee crisis in the Soviet bloc. In Sundays Washington Post. the Attorney General explains that the only barrier to President Bushs "swift and humane" handling of the refugee crisis is congressional inaction. Aside from being another glaring attempt to pass the buck. Thornburghs claim is simply untrue and devoid of facts. As a Member of Congress who has spent the past several weeks urging President Bush to address the overflow of deserving refugees from the Soviet bloc. I take issue with Mr. Thornburghs explanations. The problem of Soviet bloc refugees is a question of American refugee policy. In the past year. hundreds of thousands who face persecution in their Communist homeland have sought entrance into the United States. and President Bushs annual refugee ceilings have been inadequate. The United States is turning away deserving refugees in droves. and turning its back on the American ideals of openness and freedom from oppression. Contrary to Mr. Thornburghs claim. the solution is completely in the Presidents hands. The President determines the yearly refugee ceilings. and has the power to raise the ceilings in emergencies. At the end of this fiscal year as the backlog in Soviet bloc refugee applications grew. I was Joined by Majority Leader DicK GPHA1DT and DNC Chairman Ron Brown in urging President Bush to raise the ceilings for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. I received no answer. the administra. October . 1989 tion took no action. and the backlog continued to grow. The President got another chance at a remedy in setting the refugee ceilings for fiscal year 1990. But the Presidents proposal was again inadequate. Although the State Department confessed a backlog of 47.000 Soviet refugees in Rome and Moscow. the President set the yearly quota at 50.000. This leaves no room for new applicants. Last week. 20 colleagues signed my letter urging the President to increase the 1990 ceilings for the Eastern bloc. However. the administrations quotas. including only 6.500 slots for Eastern Europe. remained at their insufficient levels. The Attorney General claimed the Bush administration wants a humanitarian refugee policy. However. when asked about the Soviet ceiling. the administrations ambassador of refugee affairs explained that Israel is "willing to take them." or "they can always go back to Russia." Unfortunately. Mr. Thornburghs claim of compassion alone will not solve the problem in Italy. The Presidents immigration proposal would prove similarly effective. Immigration reform may prove the solution to the refugee crisis. but the flexibility afforded by 30.000 additional immigrants yearly will not begin to solve the problem. Inadequate stopgap measures like this legislation or the Attorney Generals parole status are becoming all too familiar under the Bush administration. as is the common plea that Congress is to blame. Congress will soon address immigration reform. and our program will provide real. permanent solutions to the imbalance in immigration from Eastern Europe and the increase in refugees from the Soviet bloc. I will soon propose a new category of immigrants for those countries historically denied emigration by Communist regimes and immigration by the United States preference system. Until the administration proposes real solutions to the refugee problem. the fault lies in the Presidents failure to address the issue. Blaming Congress. like blaming budgetary constraints. is no substitute for innovative policies and effective leadership. Mr.