Mr. President. earlier this year. those of us who care deeply about our Nations refugee prograin. received with great concern the Presidents proposal to reduce by 40 percentfrom $410 million down to $227 millionthe Federal funds appropriated for refugee resettlement. This funding level would have caused irreparable harm to our efforts to resettle Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union. Vietnamese political prisoners. refugees from Saddam Husseins oppression. and so many others for whom resettlement is their last option. The bill before us. however. would appropriate $405 million. approximately what was appropriated for the program for 1992. And I want to commend the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee for their sensitivity and leadership in this area. Mr. President. the Federal Office of Refugee Resettlement has proposed In the coming year to make greater use of voluntary agencies in resettling refugees. This proposal is intended to bring down costs. bring in more charitable resources to help refugees and. at the same time. try to (1o a better job of assisting refugees toward selfsufficiency. The Judiciary Committee has favorably reported legislation. S. 1941. which would reauthorize the resettlement program and permit changes to the program. while. at the same time. requiring that any changes that the administration might pursue meet criteria laid out in the committee bill. These criteria include. for example. that any change must provide adequate medical care. must reasonably be expected to increase selfsufficiency for refugees. and. importantly. must take into account the legitimate roles of State and local governments in refugee resettlement. In its report on this appropriations bill. the Appropriations Committee properly has made reference to our pending reauthorization bill. and to the need for the Department of Health and Human Services to pay careful attention to the criteria which the Judiciary Committee has established. Constructive change is necessary in meny parts of the resettlement program. and I believe that the Department of Health and Human Service is headed in the right direction in reaching out more to the voluntary agencies.
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Refugee refugee refugees