I hope. on an issue which is. I think. very critical. and it comes up in the House version of this legislation and at this level with regard to the present legislation. I call to my colleagues attention a frontpage article in the November 4 issue of the Washington Times. a piece by Michael Hedges describing a pattern of the most serious abuse in the admission of refugees under the socalled Lautenberg amendment. First. let me say my friend. Senator FRANK LAUTENBERO. is a very able legislator. a friend. a person I very much enjoy working with. I have tried to resist this legislation from its inception. But. nevertheless. the Senate felt we should go forward. And now it has been for more than 6 years since the socalled Lautenberg amendment first provided a very dramatic exception to the definition of a refugee in the Refugee Act of 1980. The Refugee Act of 1980 was sponsored by Senator TED KENNEDY of Massachusetts. I was rather new on the scene in those years and found it to be a great learning experience to watch it crafted. to see what occurred as it was put on the statute books. The provision of the law. the Lautenberg amendment. created a presumptionnow. this may be inside baseball and I know how that works in this place. but this is bigtime understanding. If we cannot get this understood by the American people. we will not get it unraveled. The provision provided a presumption of refugee status for certain groups in the Soviet Unionthis is the former Soviet Unionwho "assert" a claim of persecution or discrimination and that would make them a "refugee." That has been now extended three times since 1989 and is due to sunset at the end of this fiscal year. In the Housepassed State Department reauthorization. there is yet a further 2year extension of the socalled Lautenberg amendment. When I speak of the amendment.
Keywords matched
refugees Refugee refugee