Speech #1040272255

Let me just for a moment speak about title V. This was a controversial title. It included some provisions for illegal immigrants and several provisions for legal immigrants. It was meant to tighten up income requirements and do some other things. Basically. I very much agree with the changes made to title Vwith some exceptions. and I am prepared to support it. There is one area which was not changed and with which I have a major problem. and that is the section that deals with refugee assistance. A provision was deleted from the conference report that would have corrected a glaring inequity in the allocation of refugee assistance funds. Under the funding formulas in the current law. funds for refugee assistance are not allocated on the basis of need or numbers or where the refugees are. My State. California. has 60 percent of all of the refugees in the United States of America. We receive $31 per refugee under this bill. while other States receive as much as $497 per refugee. That is just plain wrong. It is not the way this Government should exist. with cushy deals for some States and other States really ending up down and out. This provision costs California $7 million in Federal funds. The withdrawal of the language that I submitted. to see to it that refugee dollars went based on where the refugees are. is not included in the immigration bill. It went with some kind of a political plum. I certainly intend to readdress this issue at the first available opportunity in the next Congress.