The United States has no way of knowing what the future holds for Jews throughout the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Ethnic strife in Yugoslavia. potential civil war in Moldova. and a coup attempt just 2 nights ago in Georgia are danger signals. We should delay no longer in providing Israel with the support it has requested to provide a safe haven for Jewish refugees. On the overall issue of rcugee aid. H.R. 5368 enhances the priority our Nation assigns to refugee assistance worldwide. appropriating over $620 million for migration and refugee assistance. Within the refugee assistance account. the bill earmarks $80 million for the resettlement of Soviet. Eastern European. and other refugees in Israel. As I noted earlier. such aid is urgently needed. In just 2 years. over 355.000 refugees have gone to live in Israel. despite the risks involved for those emigrants in securing employment and shelter. The promise of a Jewish homeland was one made 48 years ago and one that must be kept. and I commend Chairman OBEY for his continued leadership in this area. H.R. 5368 also rightly places the needs of the worlds children at the top of our Nations development agenda. and recognizes the important goals outlined at the 1990 World Summit for Children.
Keywords matched
refugee emigrants refugees