President. the conference agreement on H.R. 2251 is not substantially different from the bill as passed by the Senate 2 weeks ago. The conferees on behalf of the two Houses met yesterday afternoon and swiftly resolved the few differences before the conference. The primary purpose of this measure continues to be the provision of $235.500.000 for refugee assistance. derived from foreign contributions made to support U.S. operations in the gulf war. or the interest earned on those contributions. In addition. the conference agreement provides $320.500.000 from the Persian Gulf regional defense fund for costs incurred by DOD in its refugee assistance efforts. known as Operation Provide Comfort. The Senate conferees agreed to the House language relative to support for military relief agencies. and the House agreed to the Senate provisions on the Judiciary and the export promotion activities of the International Trade Administration. The Senate agreed to drop language concerning Public Law 480. the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. I understand that similar language was included in the Kurdish refugee assistance authorization bill. Mr. President.