[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 8, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H4557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    RESPONSIBILITY TO IRAQI REFUGEES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
  I am privileged to take the floor after my colleague from Virginia 
and I am in agreement with the sentiment that he has expressed. 
However, I would like to speak for a moment about the second greatest 
refugee crisis in the world after Darfur.
  Four years after the fall of Baghdad, many of the worst fears 
expressed at the beginning of that war have come true, as Iraq and its 
neighbors are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis rivaled only by the 
ongoing genocide in Darfur, referenced by my good friend from Virginia. 
Iraq has the fastest growing refugee population in the world. The 
United States has a responsibility to try to protect the innocent 
victims of massive violence wherever it can. However, having made the 
decision to begin a war of choice in Iraq, we have a particular 
responsibility to those who are suffering as a result of America's 
actions. Whatever one believes about the wisdom of the war or the 
future of the United States' engagement in Iraq, we have a 
responsibility to those innocent Iraqis who have been driven from their 
homes or fear for their lives every day.
  The numbers are sobering. The United Nations High Commission for 
Refugees estimates 4 million Iraqis have been made refugees, 2 million 
of which have left for adjacent countries like Syria and Jordan. Every 
month, another 50,000 to 70,000 Iraqis continue to be displaced from 
their homes, and these figures likely underestimate the magnitude of 
the problem. These are the front lines of a regional humanitarian 
crisis, one that could easily destabilize these front line countries 
that neighbor Iraq and turn a humanitarian crisis into a security 
disaster.
  For one group in particular, however, our moral responsibility is 
unquestionable--Iraqis who are at risk because they helped the United 
States. Having collaborated with the United States military, the United 
Nations or even with a nongovernmental organization can literally mean 
a death sentence at the hands of any of the many sides in this civil 
war. Tens of thousands of Iraqis, who worked as translators, drivers, 
even construction workers, live every day in fear of being targeted. 
However, the United States is only allowing 50 Iraqi translators to 
start their lives over in the United States. Over the next few months, 
that may be raised to 500, a number that is still dwarfed by the need.
  I became acutely aware of this problem working with a local high 
school in Portland who were partnering with members of the Oregon 
National Guard who had served in Iraq who were trying to bring their 
translator to the United States to save her life but kept running into 
bureaucratic hurdles. Since then, I've heard the same story over and 
over again.
  We should keep faith with those who have served alongside our brave 
men and women in uniform. This is a basic moral responsibility and a 
simple issue of fairness. Yet in March, the United States admitted only 
11 Iraqi refugees. Since the war began, we have admitted only 700--
remember, out of 4 million displaced.
  I am introducing legislation this week, the Responsibility to Iraqi 
Refugees Act, to address this ongoing humanitarian crisis to use all of 
the tools at our disposal, admitting refugees, providing assistance to 
the region, and using diplomacy to ensure their well-being. It creates 
a program to admit to the United States Iraqis who are at risk because 
they helped coalition or reconstruction efforts. It establishes a 
special coordinator for Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people 
and requires the United States to develop plans to ensure the well-
being and safety of these Iraqi refugees. Most important, it increases 
the number of persecuted Iraqis who can be admitted to the United 
States as refugees. And, finally, it would authorize additional funding 
for assistance to those refugees, their resettlement and fixing the 
bureaucratic process that often hampers even the most well-intended 
efforts.
  I urge every Member of the House to cosponsor this broad, ambitious 
and comprehensive response to the Iraqi refugee crisis before it is too 
late, too late for the people whose only crime was working with 
Americans.

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