I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker. each day. the bitter legacy of Saddam Husseins atrocities against his fellow man is evidenced by the suffering of thousands of Iraqi refugees who are mired in squalid refugee camps. This legislation seeks to alleviate that suffering. This bill has the support of the administration. It has three important features. First. it authorizes the appropriation of $400 million in additional funds for international disaster assistance. migration and refugee assistance. and peacekeeping activities in the Persian Gulf region. These funds may be appropriated. at the discretion of the executive branch. from three different sources: The defense cooperation account. which was established as the repository of foreign contributions to the Persian Gulf war effort. the Persian Gulf regional defense fund. for which $15 billion was anpropriated in early April. and the general fund of the Treasury. Any appropriations from the sources may be designated as emergency expenditures and are therefore budgetneutral. Second. the bill raises the statutory ceilings on the amounts of international disaster assistance. emergency migration and refugee assistance. and military supplies and services that can be made available in fiscal year 1991. Third. the bill provides authority to increase the amount of funds available to provide food aid to the refugees. Mr. Speaker. this legislation could not be more timely.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees