KASTEN. and his staff who worked so closely with us in getting this supplemental to the Senate floor without delay. They were instrumental in resolving concerns raised by some. both in the administration and here in the Senate. about aspects of the House bill. As I can attest from direct observation of the Kurdish refugee camps in Turkey and Iraq during my recent visit to that region. the needs are staggering. There is no question that the administration is going to need far more to assist the Iraqi refugees than the more than $200 million it has already drawn down from the various emergency assistance accounts in the foreign operations appropriation. These drawdowns to meet the crisis of the Kurds and other Iraqi refugees has exhausted disaster and emergency assistance accounts just as a horrendous new human tragedy has occurred in Bangladesh. Famine threatens in regions of subSahara Africa. The $235.5 million provided in this supplemental will at least partially replenish those emergency accounts and provide some additional assistance to provide help to refugees in the Persian Gulf region. I regret that it has taken so long for the administration to get this emergency supplemental here. I urged that this request be made in early April.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees