Speech #1020031252

Mr. Chairman. I rise In strong support of the provision in the State Department authorization bill which authorizes $600 million In fiscal year 1992 and $650 million in fiscal year 1993 for migration and refugee assistance. The Increase In assistance over the administrations request reflects the need for enhanced efforts to respond to the worlds burgeoning refugee population. especially in the wake of the gulf war. In particular. the $75 million earmarked for transporting. resettling. and absorbing refugees In Israel Is critical in light of the precarious conditions minority groups face in both the Soviet Union and Ethiopia today. ihe low level of Jewish emmigration from Ethiopia and the squalid conditions Jews are forced to live in are deeply disturbing. Some 18.000 Ethiopian Jews are now in danger of being trapped in the crossfire of escalating civil war in that country. The historic immigration of Soviet Jews to Israel also faces tremendous challenges ahead. In the coming 5 years. the Government of Israel must create 600.000 new jobs. build 260.000 new housing units. and widen the economic. educational. and social base of the nation by rates greater than 25 percent. This immigration is comparable to the United States absorbing the entire nation of France. With the atmosphere in the Soviet Union today of volatile and violent political instability. economic collapse. the resurgence of the Soviet right. and a proliferation of antiSemitic scapegoating. the need to assist in this critical immigration has become extremely urgent. Already we are beginning to see disturbing signs in Soviet emigration policy. There are longer delays in processing and arbitrary denials by the OVIRS of exit visas to Soviet refugees already accepted to the United States. Consequently. this bill addresses these recent setbacks by providing funds for Soviets. East Europeans. and Ethiopians to immigrate and resettle in Israel as expeditiously as possible. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this important provision which may save the lives of thousands of imperiled peoples throughout the world.