HUMANITARIAN AND RESETTLEMENT ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES FROM INDOCHINA

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CIA-RDP77M00144R001100130001-8
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May 8, 1975
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Approved For Release 2005/04/13 : CIA-RDP77M00144RO01100130001-8 S 7659 .May 8, 1975 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -SENATE of America and reaffirm what hopefully vide resettlement and humanitarian as- progress. But more important are the ad- e and Inltyhe stands world. for, both here at fe s in at least four w ysff from the bills gels which in 's appeals on effect cover behalf ance to refugees from Indochina, dif- hom up for its be- America The resolution speaks for itself. I will already introduced. havior during the final shabby chapter n . Even read i and that is all I will say at this ist aFirst. The bill would tion's aid request limit the admin- of our involvement 00 for though the fall of theiTh eu government moment: particular S. RES. 148a period of 3 months following the date was seen as inevitable, the administra- Whereas, ours is a nation of immigrants of enactment of this bill. tion, through the Embassy in Saigon, did s ation as did our prepare allied for an orderly governments. I evacuu teon, and descendants of immigrants, many of Second. This legislation would require not whom fled from tyranny and bloodshed in that at the end of the 2 months, the ad- confusion and panic, well reported their native lands where they were scorned, ministration report to Congress exactly spread by CBS' confusion and Many these orted hated and hunted, and how they are spending the refugee funds, Whereas, they came here because they how much more they need, and exactly gees could have remained in Vietnam, as knew they opuod and in America safety, why they need it. It requires a plan by Senator McGovExx has so cogently ex- freedom and opportunit, and plained, had a clear policy been followed Whereas, they found all those things and the administration. by the administration. But just as we more, for they also found America to be a Third. It would provide funds to any binto administration. so we seem to land of compassion as well as affluence, Vietnamese or Cambodian refugee who bungled une bungled out nit, ruining we lives and magnanimity as well as wealth, and has had a change of heart and who u t psetting possibilities for future lives and beings not these eel- only wishes to return to his or her homeland. ciliation with the Vietnamese people. Whereas, , less-fortunate ahs human welcomed low, r sbut but for our own, knowing Finally, the bill would set a 1-year that hat their sake a they strengthened our national vital- moratorium ium on all hiring by any U.S. This administration has turned its humanitarian aid for American Ity, constantly renewing the diversity and Intelligence agency or the Department of back k on on huumanivetoing Congress farm bill, richness of our lives and the pluralism and Defense of refugees who participated in farmers tb to extort ngress fa money onal dynamism of our society, and Whereas, this periodic influx of refugees the Operation Phoenix program. from the poor and elderly for food and exiles can serve to keep us humble, The administration is using the figure stamps, and poor labeling various other saving us from the sins of arrogance, pride of $507 million, in addition to the $98 s ampssinal proposals to help other and self-righteousness by reminding us of million already appropriated for the cans inflationary. This administration our origins, of the misery that abounds else- Vietnamese refugees. The bills already cans inflationary. back on refugees from where in the world, and of the destiny that introduced., however, provide for un- fascism and barbarism in Chile and may also befall us should we betray our limited and open-ended funding for the other countries; it shows little interest in Be itheritage,resolnowved, That therefore the Senate reaffirms President's program. If we accept about stopping or protesting the widsepread that the Statue of Liberty is, as Emma 130,000 refugees as the reports now practiced by several of our allies. Tvery erale who Lazarus called her, the Mother of Exiles; state-and incidentally, I might add, Mr. use use of ofl torture that the Senate reaffirms that the lesson of President, that just yesterday, the' ad- dropped millions The tver of bombs o on the parable of the Good Samaritan lives on ministration announced its intention to dropped many s of them civilian in the minds and hearts of the American increase its parole authority to 150,00- Vietnam, of and sough, those targets people and is a part of their character; and the sum requested by the administration same ponc the north and who defoliated the that the Senate welcomes warmly the latest breaks down to approximately $4,000 per the Vietnam countryside and pushed hundreds of exiles to our Camambobodiadia. refugees from South person, or $16,000 for a family of four- cuntrysi of Vietnamese from dyed vof and C which is a great deal more than needy Mr. President, I send the resolution Americans receive from any Government lages, now call on Congress to pass a so- to the desk and ask for its immediate agency and infinitely more than we pro- called We are humanitarian ahaid il mea measuure. e. aid to consideration. posed in the farm bill which the Presi- of rrn trained Political assassins The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tern- dent found "inflationary." Furthermore, thousands tof the Phoenix fs pore. The resolution will be stated . we have preliminary reports that a large who Vietnamese operated who corrupted their program, for The legislative clerk proceeded to read percentage of these refugees speak Eng- who car n money, their ow, and the resolution. lish and have American sponsors who ciety using for prostitutes, bars, Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, since have pledged to be responsible foi- them. equipment; I have just read the resolution, I ask Because of our involvement and com- pimps, and other undesirables; but we unanimous consent that the reading be plicity in the war, it would be unfair and have refused asylum in this country for dispensed with. certainly errant to turn our backs. on people who have tried to live honestly in The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- these people now that our involvement other countries, but could not do so be- Pore. Without objection, it is so ordered. has ended. We ought to help the legiti- cause of the antihumanitarian policies - ca some other governments, most of who Mr. CRANSTON. Mr. President, I ask mate refugees, just as we have helped the from our Government. I . refugees, government,,,, unanimous consent-this has been dis- hundreds of thousands of refugees from obtain sut tom o Jews, ernm rota cussed with the leadership on both other parts of the world in years passed am s ing S from Brasil, Chile, ian sides-that at 2:30 p.m. today, this reso- What we ought not to do is to commit rerefugees and lution be laid before the Senate and that ourselves unnecessarily to a plan which is other nations. The same President who says that the vote on the resolution occur at 3 p.m. based on emotionalism and hastily pre- today, after which the Senate will return pared plans and statistics. There is no young Americans must earn their way to the consideration of the unfinished logical reason why this Congress must back to the United States from Canada business. commit itself all the 'way through 1977 has denounced other American citizens The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- to decisions made within a few days' who question admission of Vietnamese pore. Without objection, it is so ordered. time. It is highly unusual for Congress refugees. ORDER OF BUSINESS to commit itself this far in advance, We did not evacuate only those Viet- especially in a case such as this where namese who were supposedly marked for The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- many questions regarding the future are death. We did not have such a list. In- pore. Does the Senator from Michigan still unanswered. The State Department, stead our Embassy spread panic among seek recognition? for example, has indicated that a few many sectors of the Vietnamese and, Mr. GRIFFIN. No, Mr. President. refugees have indicated that they would therefore, induced more to flee than pro tom- like to return to their homeland. There might have done so under a more re- The ACTING PRESIDENT r de d to s id kin e u.... prov --- he AND RESETTLE- ogees as well. more money in the way the administra- MENT ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES The administration has failed to com- tion suggests will solve anything. FROM INDOCHINA pile adequate data on the refugees and Before we vote on appropriations of Mr. ABOUREZK. Mr. President, the continues to provide inadequate and this magnitude and for this length of bill which I am introducing today to pro- sketchy reports, to Congress as to their time, we ought to let the dust settle and Approved For Release 2005/04/13 : CIA-RDP77MOOl 44RO01 100130001-8 Approved For Release 2005/04/13 : CIA-RDP77M00144R001100130001-8 S 7660 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SE;`rTATE May 8, 19751 emotions come down. -I think it is about time we combined a little thought with our generous inclinations. Instead of continuing to bungle and bumble along, following the contradictory and capri- cious whims of the administration and other officials, that we rethink and re- plan our policy. This bill is designed to do that, Mr. President. It provides the amount of money which the President has re- quested, but for a more rational time period. Circumstances and subsequent needs are bound to change within the next 2 months. I am convinced that Congress will be in a much better posi- tion to make further -decisions and com- mitments after we have had the benefit of hindsight in 2 months' time. Mr. President, I ask unanimous con- sent that the bill be printed in the RECORD. There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows : S. 1684 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as "The Vietnam and Cam- bodia Refugee Resettlement Assistance Act." SEC. 2. For the purposes of this Act the term "refugee" shall be defined by section 2(b) (3) of the Migration and Refugee Assist- ance Act of 1962, as amended. SEC. 3. There is authorized to be appro- priated $127,000,000 for a period of no more than ninety days for assistance to refugees from South Vietnam and Cambodia for the following purposes: (a) for the constructionand maintenance of refugee staging areas and processing facilities: (b) for the processing and care of refu- gees, including food, medical care, clothing and shelter: (c) for resettlement costs of volunteer agencies; (d) for soeial services, welfare, Medicaid, bilingual and vocational education and pub- lic health; (e) for transportation to third countries of refugees who need and desire such assist- ance; (f) for transportation to Vietnam and Cambodia of refugees who wish to return to their homeland. Sec. 4. (a) At the end of a period of sixty days following the date of enactment of this Act the President shall report to the appro- priate Committees of Congress regarding the specific uses of the funds authorized by this Act, the need for additional funds should he deem such funds necessary and the specific purpose for which such additional funds are requested; (b) At the end of the time period speci- fied in Section 4(a) of this Act the President shall submit a report to the appropriate Committees of Congress containing all perti- nent data regarding the occupations and backgrounds of the refugees; (c) Prior to the expiration of the time period specified in Section 3 of this Act, the Congress shall consider the amount of addi- tional funds to be used for the purposes of this Act and the duration of time in which such additional funds may be expended. SEc. 5. (a) Upon the enactment of this Act, there shall be a one year moratorium on all hiring of refugees from South Vietnam who participated in the Operation Phoenix Pro- gram by any intelligence agency of the United States government or by the Depart- ment of Defense; (b) In addition to the information re- quired by motion 4(b) of this Act, the President shall submit a report to the appr:-- priate Committees of the Congress contain- ing all pertinent information relative o refugees from South Vietnam who partici- pated in the Operation Phoenix Program. Mr. ABOUREZK. I yield back the re- mainder-of my time. Mr. GRIFFIN. Will the Senator from South Dakota yield for a question? Mr. ABOUREZK. I am happy to yield to the distinguished Senator from Mich - igan. Mr. GRIFFIN. Under the bill he has just introduced, am I correct in assum- ing that there would be numbers of refugees who would not want to go back to South Vietnam because of concern about being killed, but, under the bill, would he be required to go back? Mr. ABOUREZK. No, this bill does not require refugees to go anywhere. Mr. GRIFFIN. Did not the Senator',; bill- Mr. ABOUREZK. If I might answer the Senator's question-- Mr. GRIFFIN. Did not his bill ex- clude- Mr. ABOUREZK. Does the Senator wish me to answer the question or not? Mr. GRIFFIN. I am asking, does not the bill- Mr. ABOUREZK. I do not wish to yield further. I yield back the remainder of my time, Mr. President. Mr. GRIFFIN. May I be recognized, Mr. President? ROUTINE MORNING BUSINESS The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. Under the previous order, there will be a period for the transaction of Y The Senator from Michrecog- HUMANITARIAN AND RESETTLE- MENT ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES FROM INDOCHINA Mr. GRIFFIN. I was seeking to get an answer to the question whether the bill introduced by the Senator from South Dakota would preclude some of the South Vietnamese refugees from staying, and which ones. There was reference to those who had been associated with particular projects or activities, as I recall. I assume that those particular refugees could not stay and would have to go back. I assume thatbecause of their associa- tion with such projects or activities, those refugees might find themselves high on the death list of the Communist rulers in Vietnam. I wonder if I am mistaken? Mr. ABOUREZK. Is the Senator ask- ing me to respond to that? Mr. GRIFFIN. I shall be glad to yield. Mr. ABOUREZK. Will the Senator yield enough time for a response? Mr. GRIFFIN. Absolutely. Mr. ABOUREZK. The bill does not establish any qualifications for admission of refugees. This bill provides that, in- stead of granting the administration an open-ended commitment for unlimited sums of money to resettle refugees, they come back in 2 months' time with -a plan. It requires that the administration re- turn with a plan that will inform Con- gress exactly what it intends to do with the moneyand how it intends to resettle the refugees. It also requires a report on what is to be done with the thousands of hired political assassins in the Phoenix program who are reported to be among the refugees. It also sets a moratorium on the hiring of these people by U.S. intelli- gence agencies and the Defense Depart- ment. Mr. GRIFFIN. But it would be the intention and contemplation of the Sen- ator from South Dakota that he would oppose any plan that did not exclude and sendout those refugees to whom he has made reference; is that right? Mr. ABOUREZK, Let me inform the Senator of my position, if that is what he is asking. Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes, I am trying to find out. Mr. ABOUREZK. All right. I will be happy to tell him. introduc would o country if I kno litical States as thei that? h the bill which I have just does not deal with this, I ose the admission into this f any hired political assassin that is what he is. I do not low the possibility of hired Do- M GRIFFIN. No. I thoroughly agree, ins r as anyone can be identified in th category. the South Vietnamese refugees who hap- pened to work in the office of the U.S. Army or the CIA, and suppose the Army or the CIA may have engaged in certain military activities with which the Sena- tor from South Dakota may not approve and did not approve. As I understand the Senator's explana- tion he would send those refugees back. He would not characterize those people as hired political assassins, would he? Mr. ABOUREZK. Neither my speech nor my bill deals with sending anybody back. Mr. GRIFFIN. There was reference to some associated with a Phoenix proj- ect. I wonder what the Senator meant by that? Mr. ABOUREZK. Those are the polit- ical assassins, the people associated with the program whose objective was to assassinate opponents of President Thieu. Mr. GRIFFIN. The Senator also made reference to defoliation. Mr. ABOUREZK. Yes. Mr. GRIFFIN. Was he referring to any South Vietnamese who worked for a U.S. agency that had anything to do with that project, also? . Mr. ABOUREZK. No, I did not include that category. Mr. GRIFFIN. I thought the Senator did make reference to that. Mr. ABOUREZK. I referred to defolia- tion in terms of the administration now asking for humanitarian aid. The same Approved For Release 2005/04/13 : CIA-RDP77MOOl 44RO01 100130001-8