[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO SADAKO OGATA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. NICK LAMPSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 1999

  Mr. LAMPSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute and honor the United 
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and its Commissioner, Mrs. 
Sadako Ogata.
  Mrs. Ogata as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is 
responsible for protecting and finding solutions for refugees around 
the world. I would like to pay tribute to this organization today and 
to the work it is doing to help refugees around the world, but 
particularly the Kosovars.
  Mrs. Ogata's organization is now working with more than 850,000 
refugees from Kosovo, most of whom are in Albania and Macedonia, two 
small countries, who are struggling to aid these refugees despite their 
own substantial economic problems. UNHCR is the lead UN agency working 
throughout the countries of the former Yugoslavia. It has been hard 
pressed to raise the funds and find the staff and management skills, 
diplomatic support and logistical support needed to handle such an 
enormous undertaking as the Kosovo refugee emergency. The organization 
has had its problems. It depends on voluntary contributions to fund its 
programs and must respond to emergencies by moving staff from other 
duties to the latest crisis and unfortunately in refugee emergencies, 
no one is ever sure just how many people will be forced to flee their 
homelands, or how long they will have to live under difficult 
conditions.
  Recently, the UNHCR told donor governments that it still needed $30 
million to meet costs for the month of June ($143 million required from 
March to June 30) and an additional $246 million to continue its 
operations over the next 6 months.
  UNHCR as an intergovernmental organization works with governments, 
other UN and international organizations and private voluntary 
organizations to aid the refugees. The U.S. has been one of UNHCR's 
major supporters both politically and financially. One of the important 
tasks that UNHCR must fulfill is to protect the lives and well being of 
refugees, particularly those who are vulnerable or at-risk because of 
physical or mental illness, insecurity, or separation from their 
families.
  Despite all the big problems UNHCR faces in Kosovo, it can't forget 
the needs of individual families, like that of my constituents, the 
Halili family of San Leon, Texas whose relatives from Macedonia are 
safe today in Texas.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in recognizing the 
tremendous contributions of UNHCR and to its hard working staff and the 
NGO partners in Albania and Macedonia, and in Washington, who were 
willing to put in extra hours and deal with lots of paperwork and 
overcome many obstacles to speed the evacuation and the suffering of 
the Halili family.

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