This is the right kind of aid for the right purpose. Lets vote it out unanimously and speed relief to the hundreds of thousands suffering Kurds. It will also relieve some of the pressure on some on overall refugee and disaster relief accounts. so that is also helpful. Permit me. however. to make several observations. First. we would not be debating aid to the Kurds had not the international media spotlighted their tragic plight and mobilized world opinion to support emergency relief. Second. that same spotlight has not shone brightly on the even greater number of Kurdish refugees at risk in the IranianIraqi border areas. Nor has it highlighted the enormous tragedy unfolding in Africa. where some 35 million peopleor dozens times more peopleare at risk of famine. Third. we move with dispatch to aid the Kurds because the media has propelled us into action. because of our military interest in a solution. and because we have demanded and obtained help from the international community. That is not happening with respect to the cyclone victims of Bangladesh. the famine victims of Africa or some 15 million other refugees. The United States has committed a meager $6 million to aid the 10 million homeless Bangladeshis. many of whom face peril from epidemics or starvation. The main champions of relief in Bangladesh are private relief organizations such as CARE. and Save the Children. But they cant possibly cope with a tragedy of this magnitude without the active and generous support of our Government. the United Nations. and other world donors. Ukewise. the United States Committoe on Refugees has predicted that even if disaster relief is effective. some 300.000 Sudanese will still die. Certainly. we must find the will and the means to prevent such tragic losses of human life. But we will not do so as long as our foreign policy and foreign aid programs are mired in political constraints and dominated by security aid and defense concerns.
Keywords matched
Refugees refugee refugees