ROUKEMA. Representative TONY HALL. Representative HOWARD BERMAN. and Representative MArr McHUGH. the leader of our delegation. and I returned from a 5day factfinding mission to assess the Iraqi refugee crisis and efforts underway to help the Kurdish people. Upon our return. the delegation met with Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger to apprise him of the needs of the refugees and to share with him our recommendations for an appropriate U.S. response to this tragic situation. This morning we met with House Speaker Tom Foley and testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee which Is currently draftIng legislation to provide supplemental emergency relief to the people suffering In northem Iraq. In our meeting today we have shared the tragedy of what we witnessed in northern Iraq and we have urged our colleagues to move quickly on the request for additional humanitarlan aid. Ladies and gentlemen. the explosion of displaced persons and refugees In and adjacent to Iraq Is unprecedented In modern history. Within the span of 2 or 3 days In eariy April. hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled their homes In a desperate attempt to escape the brutality of Saddam Hussein. None of the exports In the international relief community anticipated the magnitude or rapidity of this exodus. All were caught off guard. Two events were instrumental in beginning to alleviate the suffering of Iraqi refugees. The first event was Secretary of State Bakers trip to the area on April 78. which galvanized the administrationand the word--into according higher priority to the refugee situation. The second event was President Bushs decision to deploy U.S. military forces to Turkey to take charge of relief operations. These operations initially may have seemed like a bandaid. but they have proven to be the tournlquet essen-
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refugee refugees