Senator SIMPSON and I have additional amendments to this legislation which were already adopted by the Senate on August 1. which are of a technical. but urgent. nature. These items are part of S. 1620. But on October 1just a few days awaythe major immigration reforms enacted last year go into effect. As it appears unlikely at this time that the House will act on S. 1620 before that date. we include in our amendment today three urgently needed technical changes from S. 1620 which are essential to meeting the October 1 startup date. Also. our amendment includes a simple 1year reauthorization of the refugee resettlement provisions of the Refugee Act of 1980. Resettlement funding for the coming fiscal year is under discussion now in the conference on the LaborHHS appropriations bill. And it is important that this basic reauthorization be adopted prior to completion of their deliberations. In the meantime. Senator SIMPSON and I will continue our efforts to develop broader legislation which will revise and improve the refugee resettlement process. I am disturbed that while the need to resettle refugees remains high. the resources available for resettlement have declined significantly in recent years. So I intend to introduce soon a longterm resettlement reauthorization bill which will provide costsaving improvements to refugee resettlement. Mr. President.
Keywords matched
immigration refugee Refugee refugees