Mr. President. this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service. Representatives of this phenomenal humanitarian agency are in Washington this week from throughout the United States to mark this important occasion. and I am pleased to join in paying tribute to their enormous dedication and remarkable achievements. LIRS got its start in the midst of the human upheaval of the Second World War now a half century ago. Since that time. the Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service has made the difference between lives of oppression and deprivation and lives of hope and freedom for over 150.000 refugees from throughout the world. Mr. President. the dedication of American Lutheran churches to rescuIng the uprooted has been extraordinary. Since 1939. LIRS has mobilized over 6.000 Lutheran congregations across the country to assist needy refugees to start new lives in America. This network of churches represents one of the most vibrant and caring refugee resettlement responses in the world. A special ministry of the Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service is its resettlement of refugee minors who become separated from their parents during flightthe socalled unaccompanied minors. This is an exceptional program in which LIRS is one of only two agencies in the entire United States with the expertise and commitment to care for this sensitive population. We in Congress also benefit from the fact that so many Lutheran congregations associated with LIRS not only resettle refugees. but advocate policies to assure refugees of continuing protection and support. LIRS has been a leading voice on behalf of Indochinese. Central Americans. Eastern Europeans. and other refugees around the globe. Mr. President.
Keywords matched
Immigration Refugee refugee refugees