[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 83 (Thursday, June 20, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S5845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           WORLD REFUGEE DAY

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I am honored to join in celebrating World 
Refugee Day and the many contributions of refugees around the world. 
The United Nations High Commission on Refugees works tirelessly to 
provide hope and opportunity to many of the world's most vulnerable 
people, and I commend High Commissioner Lubbers for his leadership in 
this area.
  The focus of this year's celebration is on the critical situation of 
refugee women and children, who make up 70 percent of the refugee 
population. More must be done to address the special needs of these 
individuals, and World Refugee Day celebrations are an important step 
in the right direction.
  To celebrate this day, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, Angelina 
Jolie has commissioned a national poster competition and I am proud to 
say a fifth-grade student from Newton, MA, Lev Matskevich, is one of 
the winners. I would like to congratulate all of the winners, Lev, 
Sarah Rahmani from Edmunds, WA, and Roxann Acuna from San Antonio, TX 
for their hard work not only on the posters, but in bringing needed 
attention to the plight of refugees.
  The theme of this year's poster contest, as it says proudly on Lev's 
poster, is tolerance. As a nation of immigrants we must remember that 
our tolerance toward immigrants has been a principal source of our 
progress and achievement.
  With this year's celebration of World Refugee Day and these wonderful 
posters, we continue the important tradition of recognizing the 
contributions of refugees and encouraging the United States' continued 
commitment to providing a safe-haven to those in need around the world.

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