Chairman. I rise tonight to speak in favor of the 1992 foreign aid appropriations bill. It addresses the needs of refugees. provides disaster relief to people in crisis. promotes world wide peacekeeing activities. supports voluntary family planning. and even builds in deficit reduction. As Mr. NATCHER would say. this is a good bill. I congratulate DAVE OBEY for his skillful and strong leadership in crafting an excellent bill. In fact. when the sorry history of the refugee situation in the last half of this century is written. no one should be given more credit to alleviating the suffering of refugees than the gentleman from Wisconsin for what he is providing in this legislation. He is a fighter for the survival of the refugees. Let me focus on three of the most important items in this bill. refugee assistance. humanitarian assistance for children. and population assistance. There are unprecedented numbers of refugees worldwide. as a result of natural disasters and war. In recognition of this sad fact. this bill provides an increase in humanitarian assistance to refugees in 1992. The bill appropriates $80 million to help provide transportation for thousands of Soviet Jews to Israel each month. and will help support the 14.000 Ethiopian refugees that have been airlifted to that country. Children who have been displaced because of war. natural disaster. or economic circumstances represent one of the most overlooked areas of development. This bill increases funding for displaced children from $5 million to $8 million. with special emphasis on assisting displaced children in Romania and Cambodia. and the worlds estimated 100 million street children.
Keywords matched
refugee refugees