With regard to Yemen and the others, I will have to check into what we have or have not said publicly. But the fundamental point I am trying to make, Mr. Chairman, is I really do think there is a distinction between what we have tried to do in the Haitian case and the Vietnamese case, and that the distinction in terms of people being returned to Vietnam and people being returned to Haiti is also fairly substantial. Senator KENNEDY. Well, as Senator DeConcini stated, I find it difficult to draw that distinction. Mr. EAGLEBURGER. I will try to submit something for you on that. [The information referred to can be found in the appendix.] TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR YUGOSLAVS? Senator KENNEDY. This is a point, again, that Senator DeConcini mentioned, but last year in my questions submitted for the record I asked whether the administration had considered granting temporary protected status for the people from Yugoslavia. Your re sponse We remain hopeful that EC efforts to put in place a permanent cease-fire will be successful and negotiations at The Hague under EC auspices will produce some positive results. It is now a year later. Peace is not at hand. In the meantime, there are people here, students and others, who can't go home right now. We have given temporary protected status recently to Liberians, Kuwaitis, Lebanese, Somalis. Why not the Yugoslavs? Mr. EAGLEBURGER. I think I don't want to prejudge consultations with the Justice Department in which we are not the only decisionmaking factor, but it is an issue under consideration between us. I would hope we will have it settled, and in a way that you would appreciate, fairly soon. Senator KENNEDY. We thank all of our witnesses. There may be some written questions for the record and we will try to get those to you as soon as possible. Thank you very much. Mr. EAGLEBURGER. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In accordance with The Refugee Act of 1980 (P.L. 96-212), members of the Committee on the Judiciary have consulted with your representatives on the proposed refugee admissions for fiscal year 1993. Funding remains a concern, and the Committee trusts that the funding levels now under consideration will provide reasonable resettlement assistance for the proposed level of admissions. We reiterate our view that resettlement funding must correspond to the number of refugees admitted, except, of course, in the case of emergency situations. As we expressed last year, the Committee believes that some refugee admission numbers should be reserved for refugees whom the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees identifies as being "at risk." Often these refugees must be moved within a matter of hours, or face refoulement and imminent danger to their lives or freedom. The United States has a proud record, but we do not always respond well to individual refugees in need of urgent protection. To respond to these needs the Committee suggests that specific numbers be used for this purpose, and that the Coordinator for Refugee Affairs establish a permanent procedure with the Attorney General allowing Consular Officers to admit these refugees "at risk" rather than waiting months for an INS "circuit rider" to interview them. Finally, we want to reiterate our support for efforts to strengthen the peace-keeping and peace-making roles of the United Nations to deal with the root causes of refugee problems before they emerge into international tragedies. This is a time of historic change in the world, and with the end of the Cold War it also provides an historic opportunity for the United Nations and its agencies to become more effective and involved. We are witnessing a greater willingness by governments to address humanitarian and other problems collectively through the Untied Nations. Whether it is the crisis in the former Yugoslavia or Somalia, or the Cambodia issue, nations have joined together in looking to the U.N. as the best forum for resolving them. But if we are to expect the U.N. to finally be able to do what its 2 original Charter gave it the responsibility to do, then there is a need to strengthen the U.N.'s capacity to do so. We support your proposal to do so. As in previous years, we continue to support the objectives of our Nation's program to assist refugees of "special humanitarian concern" to the United States. But we again encourage you to consider the above suggestions as we implement this coming year's program. We appreciated your testimony before the Committee last week, and for presenting the President's proposal for the admission of refugees in 1993. As we indicated at the hearing, we are sending some additional questions for the Record, which members were unable to ask because of time constraints. We will consider last week's hearing as fulfilling the statutory consultation process required by The Refugee Act of 1980. However, the formal letter from the Committee concluding the process, which will express the Committee's views on the appropriate admissions level, will not be sent until September before the President issues his annual Executive Order. During this period we will monitor closely the appropriations process to see if support for domestic resettlement programs is adequate to allow for the admission levels proposed by the President. This follows the explicit understanding we reached at the conclusion of last year's consultations when Senator Biden, Thurmond, Simpson and myself wrote to the President on October 1, 1991: .the Committee will not agree in the future to set admission levels above those provided for in the budget and, in effect, dumping the responsibility on the States and local communities. This is contrary to the explicit provisions of The Refugee Act. In considering the adequacy of what is "provided for in the budget," we mean that support for refugee resettlement must not fall below current levels or length of federal support simply because admission levels go beyond what the budget allows. We would hope that by September, at the end of the appropriations process, the Administration will succeed in obtaining sufficient funds for the resettlement program. But it will take far greater leadership by the Administration than has been evidenced to date. We are prepared at every step to support the appropriations process to secure adequate funding and to support the President's request. Again, thank you for your testimony, and attached are the additional questions from members of the Committee. With best wishes, Singerely, Edward M. Kenned Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs |