Speech #1020184596

Mr. President. I am pleased that the Freedom Support Act includes a 2year extension of a provision in current law which facilitates the granting of refugee status for certain historically persecuted groups. The law is commonly referred to as the LautenbergMorrison refugee law. since Representative MORRISON and I were its prime sponsors. A 2year extension of the law was offered as an amendment by Senator BIDEN on my behalf during the Foreign Relations Committee markup of this bill. It was adopted unanimously. The existing law formally recognizes that the historic experience of certain persecuted religious minorities in the Soviet Union and Indochina. and a pattern of arbitrary denials of refugee status to members of these minorities. entitles them to a relaxed standard of proof in determinations about whether they are refugees. The law. which now is set to expire at the end of this fiscal year. lowers the evidentiary standard required to qualify for refugee status for Soviet Jews. Soviet Evangelical Christians. religiously active Soviet Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox. and certain categories of Vietnamese. Laotians. or Cambodians. Once a refugee applicant proves he or she is a member of one of these groups. he or she only has to prove a credible basis for concern about the possibility of persecution. Refugee applicants normally must prove a wellfounded fear of persecution. Legislation to extend the law for 2 years has been endorsed by the Council of Jewish Federations. the U.S. Catholic Conference. the American Jewish Committee. the Ukrainian National Association. Inc.. the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews. the New York Association for New Americans. the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service. and World Relief. I ask unanimous consent that copies of endorsement letters from these organizations be included in the RECORD.