Mr. President. I support Senator HARKINs amendment providing $15 million in additional funds for the Refugee Cash and Medical Assistance Program. funds which will allow States with large refugee populations to avoid harsh. lastminute reductions in important services. Whether they come from Central America. Asia. Africa. or Eastern Europe. refugees coming to this country need cash and medical assistance services in order to become selfsufficient citizens in the future. California especially need these funds. because as many as 30 percent of all refugees initially settle in California. Without supplemental funds. California and other States such as New York and Florida would have to cut the length of time they provide services. leaving refugees who arrive this summer without muchneeded services. Ten years ago. Federal funding providod services to refugees for up to 36 months. Currently. services are available for only 8 months. Without these funds. California would have to limit services to refugees to just 3 months. After that. refugees would have to go without food. shelter. and medical care they should receive. At this level. it would be difficult to maintain an effective program. In the long run. funding for refugee services saves public money. Without such services to help individuals assimilate in the United States. refugees struggle to become selfsufficient and are more likely to need longer term public assistance. This funding for the Refugee Resettlement Program does not represent surplus money for the refugee program. rather. it will make up some of the shortfall in the fiscal year 1993 budget that the Department of Health and Human Services has requested because of the increase in refugees entering the country. At the same time. this funding does not require offsets from other equally important programs. Instead. the amendment simply frees up $15 million in unspent fiscal year 1992 funds. Finally. it seems obvious that the Federal Government should take responsibility for its own policies. Refugee assistance funds allow States to meet Federal mandates for the provision of assistance to dependent refugees. The need for refugee assistance is created by Federal pollcymaking. and States such as California should not be forced to bear the financial burden of policymaking over which they have no control.
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refugees Refugee refugee