Speech #1010156749

Mr. President. I rise to introduce a 2year extension of the LautenbergMorrison law which makes it easier for certain historically persecuted groups of refugee applicants to enter the United States as refugees. This legislation passed the Senate by a vote of 97 to 0 last year. and became law as part of the Fiscal Year 1990 Foreign Aid Appropriations Act. It sunsets on October 1. 1990. I am extremely pleased to have as original cosponsors of this bill Senator KENNEDY. the distinguished chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committees Immigration Subcommittee. Senator SIMON. also a member of that subcommittee. Senators GRASSLEY. KASTEN. and HARKIN. I would also note that Congressman MORRISON. the laws sponsor in the House last year. and the chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration. is introducing the same bill on the House side. The legislation has been endorsed by the American Jewish Committee. the Council of Jewish Federations. the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. World Relief. the Ukrainian National Association. Inc.. the U.S. Catholic Conference. and the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. Im also pleased that extension of this law also has the support of Secretary Baker. who acknowledged that to me in a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce. Justice. State. and Judiciary on The law we passed last year formally recognized that the historical experience of certain persecuted minorities in the Soviet Union and Southeast Asia. and a pattern of arbitrary denials of refugee status to members of these minorities. entitled them to a temporarily relaxed standard of proof in determinations about whether they are refugees. This law. for fiscal year 1990. lessened the evidence required for Soviet Jews. Soviet Evangelical Christians. religiously active Soviet Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox. and certain categories of Vietnamese. Laotians. or Cambodians to qualify for admission to the United States as a refugee. Once a refugee applicant proves he or she is a member of one of these groups. he or she only has to prove a "credible basis for concern" about the possibility of persecution. Refugee applicants normally must prove a "wellfounded fear of persecution." The law also provides for the adjustment of status from parolee to permanent resident for nationals of the Soviet Union. Vietnam. Laos. or Cambodia who entered the United States on or after September 1. 1988. and before September 1. 1990. as parolees. To qualify. they must prove they have been physically present in the United States for at least 1 year. The 2year extension we now propose would mean that parolees in the specified groups who entered the country after August 15. 1988. and before September 1. 1992. may qualify for this adjustment of status. It would also extend for 2 years the requirement that decisions made to deny applications for refugee status must be in writing and state the reasons why the application was denied. Current law provides that members of the protected groups who were denied refugee status between August 15. 1988. and the date the law was enacted are eligible to reapply for refugee status under the terms of the law. The 2year extension would make those who were denied refugee status between August 15. 1988. and October 1. 1992. eligible to reapply under the terms of the law. Finally. the law provided for a GAO review of processing in the Soviet Union to see how the law was being implemented. This new legislation includes a requirement for another review. The LautenbergMorrison law is working as intended. It has replaced an arbitrary and slow process of refugee adjudication in the Soviet Union and Southeast Asia with a stable. consistent and fair process. It has meant that people already terrorized by longstanding hatred and persecution in their native lands are not further traumatized by a system that does not recognize their suffering. or makes arbitrary distinctions between people who have suffered similar fates. This law has had a real and positive impact on refugee applications. Denial rates for Soviet Jews decreased from about 36 percent last March before LautenbergMorrison to 8 percent for February of 1990. and 11 percent in March. For Soviet Pentecostals. a review done by World Relief shows that no Soviet Pentecostals applying for refugee status were unfairly denied refugee status. We continue to need this liberalized standard because conditions for the persecuted groups in the Soviet Union and Southeast Asia have not significantly improved. The conditions that caused them to seek refuge last year still exist. and in some cases. have worsened. While Soviet Jews have been permitted to emigrate in much greater numbers. those remaining face a greatly increased threat to their wellbeing. Pogroms are a very real possibility. and heightened harassment. violence. and public expressions of hatred by antiSemitic groups like Pamyat are already occurring. Pentecostals. who are concentrated in areas far from the cities. continue to be harassed for their religious beliefs. Ukrainian Catholic and Orthodox congregations have been permitted to exist. but they remain illegal. Harassment of believers continues and worship is still obstructed. especially in Eastern Ukraine. an area less open to the West. Although the historic persecution of these groups continues. even the Immigration and Naturalization Services acknowledges that denial rates would go up if the relaxed standard embodied in this law were permitted to sunset in October 1990. If this law expires at the end of this fiscal year. denial rates for Soviet Jews would go up to about 40 percent. Given the present contingent of only 6 INS adjudicators in Moscow. INS officials believe it would be impossible to interview enough people to fill the 40.000 refugee visas available in 1990. Moreover. the GAO report done pursuant to the requirements of this law. entitled "Soviet Refugees: Processing and Admittance to the United States." found that two of the six rooms in which Soviet refugee applicants are being interviewed are unsatisfactory because they do not provide sufficient privacy. Because the lack of privacy creates an atmosphere in which an applicant may legitimately fear speaking the truth about persecution. the protection offered by the LautenbergMorrison law is still needed. I ask unanimous consent that a copy of this report appear in the RECORD following my remarks.