Speech #1020142815

We are waiting for a couple of our Members to come to the floor. and then we can conclude the day. But I want to share with the body that. for nearly 14 years. I have been deeply involved in our countrys refugee policy. I participated in every annual refugee consultation with the administration since the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. This is the process that sets refugee admission levels each year. I was chairman of the Refugee Subcommittee at a time when this Nation was accepting 14.000 refugees a month. when the total annual cost of our worldwide refugee program was nearly $2 billion. I have at times expressed my dismay on this floor at the misuse of our refugee procedures. for instance. at times when groups could not qualify as refugees under the Refugee Act. and yet were accommodated through special legislation. But for the most part. I have been very proud of our countrys traditional generosity toward persons fleeing political persecution in their homeland. and since I became a member of the subcommittee in 1981. we have admitted and resettled in the United States more than 1 million refugees. Mr. President. in theory. we have admitted as refugees those persons of special humanitarian concern to the United States who could neither return safety to their homeland nor find resettlement in the neighboring region. The international community as well as the United States considers safe repatriation to the homeland as the preferred solution to any refugee situation. with resettlement in the region being the next permanent solution. Due in part to the cost and to the disruption to the refugee. and his or her family. resettlement in a third country such as the United States 1h the least preferred permanent solution to a refugee situation. Thus. efforts by the international community to make a nation safe for the return of its citizens deserves our wholehearted support. Mr. President. at this time we have a unique opportunity to address. in a very positive way. two very tough refugee problems which we have wrestled with for over a decade. I speak of the more than 300.000 Cambodian displaced persons in Thailand. and of the Haitian boat people. Although the majority of both groups are not refugees fleeing political persecution. they surely are members of two societies which have been wracked by unsettled economies. and unstable governments. and human rights abuses that have been prevalent for more than a decade. The cost to the United States has been high in both instances. In addition to resettling nearly 150.000 Cambodians in the United States. at an estimated cost of $7.000 per refugee. the United States has contributed millions of dollars to the cost of the United Nations border operation. which provides food. shelter. and medical assistance to the displaced Cambodians. With regard to the Haitian boat people. our Coast Guard has controlled the windward passage to interdict and rescue Haitian boat people for over 10 years at a cost today of more than $400.000 per month. In addition. the United States military has operated a camp for the boat people at Guantanamo Bay.