I want to put in perspective what this amendment is trying to do. As I understand the situation. this bill raises the eradication funds in Colombia by $30 million. It also cuts $103 million from refugees. All Mr. McGOVERN is trying to do is to take that $30 million increase that the committee has provided for eradication in Colombia and move it back into an account that has already been cut by almost three times as much as the amount of money he is trying to put back in the refugee account. I remember when Bill Lehman from Florida used to take this floor every year. There was no better human being I have ever met in this place than Bill Lehman. and he used to routinely remind us that there Is no more miserable person in the world than a refugee. They live in often abominable conditions. and they have nowhere to turn. We have Members in this House who will engage in all kinds of meaningless gestures when it comes to Darfur. They will sign onto a letter to the President. and they will sign onto a bill that they know is going nowhere. and then they will put out their press releases posing for political holy pictures on how much they care about refugees and how much they care about Darfur. And yet what they do doesnt produce one plugged nickel. If you want to do something real for those wretched creatures. you will do what Mr. MCGOVERN is trying to do: You will add this tiny little dollop of money back to the refugee account. I mean. if you want a perfect example of money that isnt working. its money that is spent on eradication. I remember when we had a huge fight under the Reagan administration about how we were going to pull money into eradication and interdiction.
Keywords matched
refugees refugee