Speech #1020150135

Mr. SAXTON of New Jersey. and Mr. SCHUMER of New York for calling this special order to focus attention upon the issue of loan guarantees for refugees arriving in Israel. This is an issue that deserves the serious and favorable attention of the Congress. and I very much regret that the White House and the State Department have so vigorously opposed this worthy effort. For well over a quarter century. United States policy has fought to assure Jews in the Soviet Union the right to emigrate from the Soviet Union and other countries where they have suffered persecution and discrimination. For decades. these individuals were denied the fundamental human right of free movement to leave countries which have oppressed them. Now tens of thousands of Soviet Jews are arriving in Israel. and many thousands more have arrived from Ethiopia and other countries where they have been persecuted. Israel has extended a warm and sincere welcome to these refugees and has acted in our own proud tradition of accepting peoples from many regions as part of their own unique melting pot. We commend them for this hospitality to so many. With the alarming rise of antiSemitism in the republics of the former Soviet Union and the countries of central and eastern Europe. it is more urgent than ever that we aid these Jews as they flee to the safe haven that Israel has provided for them. Israel faces a massive task of resettling these refugees. In the past 2 years. it has seen an influx of 400.000 refugees. During this coming decade. that country will absorb a refugee population of as many as 1 million people. Considering the size of the population of Israel. this Influx of refugees into Israel is the equivalent of an increase of 70 to 80 million people by the United States. the equivalent of the United States absorbing the entire population of France. Mr. Speaker. the Government of Israel asked the United States to assist with this immense task of providingno moneybut guarantees for loans which Israel would use for the construction of needed new housing which will also provide employment for these new arrivals.