Speech #1030125529

I speak in opposition to the amendment. This is an extension of a measure first introduced in 1989. It is something that declares entire groups in the former Soviet Union and in Southeast Asia as subject to persecution and thus entitled to refugee status under our laws. I have been on this one a long time. as I say. and I know people are tired of it. You cannot pick an issue more fraught with emotion. fear. guilt. and racism than when you are in the area of refugees and immigration. I know there will be smatterings of that in this debate. It never is ever far removed. Debate about who is a political refugee and who is an economic migrant has proceeded vigorously in recent years. but very little is said about the slide of U.S. refugee policy into pure politics. just as illustrated by this amendment by my friend from New Jersey. And I respect FRANK LAUTENBERG thoroughly. He and I have worked together on many issues. The pressures he has on this amendment are total. I have watched it over the years. Under our Refugee Act and under the United Nations Convention and Protocol. a refugee is a person with a wellfounded fear of persecution on account of race. religion. nationality. membership in a particular social group. or political opinion. That is a refugee. The way we determine refugees is on a casebycase basis. which is the only sane and sensible way to determine who is a refugee. That is why Senator KENNEDY did yeomans work in 1980 on the Refugee Act. new legislation. with which I assisted. But under this amendment. any member of a group or category covered can establish eligibility as a refugee just by being a member of the group without any casebycase determination. They do that by "asserting"-that is the word. assertinga wellfounded fear of persecution and asserting a credible basis for concern about the possibility of persecution. In other words. admission to the United States as a refugee is made then on the basis of two assertions that do not in themselves involve any test of credibility at all. Every other refugee applicant to this country is required to establish his or her eligibility. But those who benefit from this amendment need only "assert" a claim. Accordingly. once an individual is asserting that he or she is a member of a covered class and asserts that he or she has been persecuted or has a fear of persecution. then that person is deemed to be a refugee. Special categories of aliens from the former Soviet Union who are entitled to refugee status under this amendment are Jews and Evangelical Christians. for the most part. About 80 percent of the refugee admissions go to Jewish applicants. and most of the balance are awarded to Evangelicals. Not surprisingly. a wave of dubious conversions have been reported in the latter group. In the last human rights report submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations. the State Department. in reviewing the situation in Russia. noted that there was some "unofficial discrimination against Jews." I do not dispute that ghastly and unfortunate fact. not one bit. It is also a fact that there is unofficial discrimination against groups in this country. I do not dispute that one bit. and I do not see how anyone can. But it does not make that person here. or in the Soviet Union. a refugee. Refugees are persons fleeing official political persecution and not discrimination. I have often said. if you want to change the definition of a "refugee." let us do that in open debate. but not like this. All applicants for refugee status. excepting only those covered by this amendment. go through a casebycase interview process to determine whether or not a wellfounded fear of persecution exists. The applicant has the burden of establishing that wellfounded fear of persecution. as it should be. This is not a new thing here.