Speech #1050136551

So. Mr. President. this is a total of 80.000 personsor 90.000. as of Each year. many more people apply for admission as refugees than can be accommodated under the quotas. Thus. an increase of immigrants seeking admission as refugees would not increase the number admitted. it would merely swell the backlog and the waiting lists. The only significant exception to these quotas is Cubans escaping Castros regime and admitted under the Cuban Entrant Program. That number has fluctuated in recent years from a low of 3.000 in 1991 to a high of 19.000 in The number of refugees and asylees coming to the United States is controlled by Congress and the administration. The major current example of this. as I pointed out. an exception. is the Lautenberg amendment. which allows the southeast Asians. Jews. and Evangelical Christians to gain admission as refugees under more lenient rules than those applied to other applicants. CBO has concluded enactment and repeated extension of this provision has prompted the administration to increase the quota on the number of refugees admitted. and a further extension is likely to cause the administration to raise the refugee quotas by about 18.000 per year. The number of refugees admitted in the early 1990s as described above includes refugees admitted under the Lautenberg amendment. CBO estimates the increased number admitted will increase Federal costs for meanstested programs. but threequarters of the cost will come in the Medicaid and SSI Program. Let me point out. Mr. President. and there is no way that Members would know this without the research of our committee. but it is unlikely that the modest amounts of money available in the food stamp benefits would make. under any circumstances. coming to America more appealing for prospective refugees. The average monthly food stamp benefit for these persons will be under $72 per month. less than onefifth of the SSI benefit. which is now estimated by CBO as roughly $411 per month. It is estimated the fiscal cost of the refugee situation will be $50 million a year. I conclude this part of the argument by saying the distinguished occupant of the Chair. as chair of the House Agriculture Committee. and I. worked together on a farm bill which. in conjunction with welfare reform. cut food stamp costs by roughly $24 billion. There are many in the Finance Committee who deserve great credit for rearranging the circumstances of welfare.