[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 104 (Thursday, June 20, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4164-S4165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, tomorrow, I will be back home in
Burlington, VT, to take part in a joyous occasion. In an afternoon
ceremony at the Ethan Allen Homestead, I will attend a naturalization
ceremony in which 14 new Americans from 11 countries will be
administered the Oath of Allegiance. The participants will be
surrounded by family and friends as they stand proudly next to the
American flag and formally became U.S. citizens. It will be an honor to
stand with them.
As we celebrate these immigrants who will join our ranks as American
citizens, today, on World Refugee Day, we must not forget the plight of
millions of refugees who have not been as fortunate. Right now, there
are over 70 million people across the globe who have been forcibly
displaced from their home countries by the horrors of persecution, war,
famine, and chaos. In 2018 alone, nearly 13.8 million people were newly
displaced, meaning that 25 people were forced to flee their homes every
single minute of 2018. Nearly half of all refugees are children under
the age of 18, many of them just infants and toddlers.
On World Refugee Day, we must recommit ourselves to the hallowed
American tradition of being a refuge for the persecuted and the
oppressed. Welcoming refugees with dignity is not a Democratic or a
Republican priority; it is the American way. We are a better country
for it. No single administration will ever be able to erase that from
our DNA as a nation of refugees and immigrants.
I couldn't think of a better way to highlight the indelible
contributions of immigrants and refugees to our society than to share a
personal story that my good friend, U.S. District Court Judge Bill
Sessions, recently offered at a naturalization ceremony at Vermont's
State House marking the 17th anniversary of 9/11. Judge Sessions'
remarks came just months after he suffered a life-threatening injury,
only to later discover that the medical professionals who helped save
his life were the very same immigrants he had sworn in as American
citizens years earlier.
I for one, am most grateful that they were here in America to save
his life.
I ask unanimous consent that Judge Sessions' statement be printed in
the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Statement of U.S. District Court Judge William K. Sessions III, Vermont
State House Naturalization Ceremony--Sept. 11, 2018
I am going to tell you my story. Of course I'm not going to
tell you my whole life story, just that part which relates to
my injury and illness a number of months ago. So on one level
I will share with you my story, my experience. But it really
isn't about me. It's about all those who came to my aid. It's
about wonderful people who have recently moved here to this
country to pursue their dreams, and it's about what these
folks do for all of us.
I've been a federal judge since 1995, about 24 years. One
of my favorite parts of the job is to preside at
naturalization ceremonies. Over the years, I've had
ceremonies, in courtrooms, schools, museums, on boats and in
legislative halls. Currently, there are 24 such ceremonies
performed each year in Vermont, and between 700 and 800
people are sworn in as American citizens. I do two a year,
aboard the Ticonderoga at Shelburne Museum and in the State
House on September 11th of each year. The State House
ceremony is very special. Patrick Leahy and I organized the
first such ceremony on the first anniversary of the September
11th attack as a statement that we cherish what immigrants
bring to this country, that our welcome to new citizens will
not be diminished by the acts of terrorists. It's a large
group of between 60 and 80 applicants for citizenship. We
have held ceremonies on September 11th of each year ever
since.
Naturalization ceremonies are joyous celebrations. The new
citizens are from all over the world. In fact these
ceremonies often evolve into celebrations of their own
cultural traditions. Many come in their native dress, and all
of their families share in their celebration. They come up
after the ceremony for pictures with me. My photo must rest
on hundreds of mantles.
There are a couple of themes that seem universal. First,
they are all very happy. For many, this day is the
culmination of a long struggle. Many have come from refugee
camps in Bhutan or Nepal or war-torn areas, such as Somalia
or Bosnia. Some were raised in Communist countries, including
Russia, China and the Eastern Bloc countries. Some were from
Central and South America, having come here to escape
violence at home, and others were from Europe or Canada. They
speak about their dreams of America. The American dream is so
inspirational for so many new citizens: hope, freedom,
education, employment. It is inspirational for us who have
lived here all of our lives to be reminded that so many look
to this country as a beacon of hope. And we are a multi-
cultural community. We take pride in our diversity. The
infusion of rich cultural traditions is in many ways our
lifeblood.
At the same time, naturalization ceremonies mark
transitions from their homes and extended families to our
community, and that transition is hard. They bring with them
such rich cultural traditions, but often they see in their
children the influence of the western community. Fernanda
spoke to this--you feel caught between two worlds.
But where do they go after being naturalized? There have
been over 12,000 new citizens sworn in since I have been a
judge. That's a very significant portion of our whole
community. Yet I never understood where they go. How do they
integrate into our Western culture? Just what were they doing
here that impacts all of us? Now I have a much greater
understanding of what they contribute for all of us.
Now to my story. In late February, Abi and I were skating
on the frozen fields of Blue Ledge farm, our daughter's and
son-in-law's property. I took a fall backwards, striking my
head on the ice. The sound could be heard throughout the
county. I gathered myself. I seemed to have a headache, but
not more. We skated back to the car. I of course did nothing.
Over the next two months I occasionally had minor
headaches. It seemed like nothing more than a distraction.
Things changed on a Sunday night in May. I had trouble
speaking. Abi wanted to take me to the nearby ER, I said I'd
visit a doctor the next day. John Barstow called. He in his
own blunt way ordered I go to the ER. Two vs. one, so we went
Sunday night. A CT scan was done and sent to the University
of Vermont Medical Center. A neurosurgeon reviewed it and
sent back the following message: I had massive bleeding in
the brain, I was to be transported to Burlington, and he had
scheduled brain surgery for 4 that morning.
So I remember very well meeting the neurosurgeon outside of
the operating room. He explained the presence of blood and
the movement of the brain from the pressure. He then waited
for my response, but I couldn't answer him. I could not
speak, I couldn't make a sound. He was an older man, almost a
contemporary of mine. He put his hand on mine and said in a
very kind way: ``We're going to make you all better.'' I
could only nod.
I spent close to a month in the hospital, rotating between
UVM Medical Center and Fanny Allen. One of my first
observations was that people who took care of me were from
all over the world. Those included nurses, medical
technicians, and support staff. I just loved talking with
them about their stories. They all had such pride in their
cultural heritage. And they had such hope for their life here
in the United States.
One day one of my favorite nurses said to me: ``You
probably don't remember me, but you swore me in as an
American citizen.'' I didn't remember her, but I felt an
immediate connection. The ceremonies were special to both of
us, and I felt a joy and a level of comfort that she was
taking care of me. Also there was such a sense of small
world.
During my hospitalization I had a number of setbacks that
are common with this type of operation. Those setbacks took
away my strength. They also impacted my ability to walk and
to speak. I began occupational and physical therapy and
speech pathology to relearn those skills. On the second day
of meeting my occupational therapist, she told me that I had
sworn her in as a citizen on September 11th at a State House
ceremony. She brought the program for the ceremony the next
day. Yes indeed, I was the judge who performed her ceremony.
And in the course of my rehabilitation, I met a number of
therapists, many of whom were either naturalized citizens or
were married to naturalized citizens. So the answer to my
original
[[Page S4165]]
question: Where do immigrants go to integrate into the
community? Many go in to the health care community.
But then how about the neurosurgeon? He had reviewed the CT
scan, ordered that I be transported to Burlington. He
scheduled surgery at 4 a.m., and waited all night to perform
the operation. And he was so kind to me before the operation.
My follow-up appointment with him was one month after the
operation. Abi and I went to his office. A CT scan was done,
which he showed us. The bleeding had stopped, the blood was
all gone, and the brain had moved back to where it was
supposed to be, about 2.2 cm. He then said to both of us:
``You will make a full recovery.'' As he was leaving the
room, I said to him: ``Doctor, thank you for saving my
life.'' He stopped, looked directly at me and said: ``You're
welcome. And thank you, Judge.'' I had no idea why he would
thank me and asked for what. His response: ``On September
11th, 2006, on the fifth anniversary of the attack on New
York and Washington, at a ceremony at the State House in
Montpelier, you swore me in as an American citizen. It was a
very special day for me.''
So what have I learned from my experience? Immigrants bring
to us their stories, the richness of their cultural
traditions. This makes our community so much more diverse and
interesting. We all benefit so much by their presence.
But now I look at the group being sworn in as citizens in a
different light. Among the group may be nurses, medical
technicians and aides who care for us when we are our most
vulnerable; there may be therapists and speech pathologists
who work to restore us who have been injured to our previous
health; there may be doctors and surgeons who make life-
altering decisions that may save our lives; there may be
teachers and principals who care for and educate our
children; there may be civil rights lawyers who defend our
liberties, and police officers who protect us in the
community. With the exception of native Americans we or our
ancestors made that same voyage, often with those same
dreams. We are them and they are us. We need to welcome them,
but we also should thank them for all they do to make our
community a safer, healthier and richer place in which to
live.
Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I want to take the opportunity to join
communities across the country and around the globe to commemorate the
19th observance of World Refugee Day.
Let me start with two sobering statistics from the UN agency charged
with protecting refugees. The first is that 25 people were forced to
flee their homes every minute of last year. The second is that more
than 70 million people have now been forcibly displaced by conflict and
persecution, the highest number the UN refugee agency has ever seen. So
suffice it to say that the global need is real.
Which is why it is so heartbreaking to see Donald Trump's repeated
efforts to try and slam America's doors shut to the world's most
vulnerable.
It is particularly outrageous that the Trump folks aren't even on
track to admit their own historically low cap of 30,000 refugees this
year.
Let's be clear: Turning away refugees isn't some cornerstone of
conservatism. Ronald Reagan admitted tens of thousands of refugees, so
did George W. Bush.
In another era, that would have included my family, who fled Nazi
persecution in the 1930s, seeking sanctuary in this country. I would
have never had the honor of representing my State of Oregon here in
this body had America sent my parents away.
Now, Edith and Peter Wyden aren't exactly household names, but here
are a few that should be: Madeleine Albright, Albert Einstein, Gloria
Estefan, Mila Kunis, and Elie Wiesel.
America is so much the richer for their contributions to diplomacy,
physics, music, film and television, literature, and more.
So there is a practical reason for accepting refugees: Doing so makes
America better.
There is also a moral reason for accepting refugees. Faith traditions
speak of it as a duty to repair the world or to welcome the stranger.
In Oregon, we just call it the right thing to do.
America is better than the administration's cruel and callous
policies. I remain committed to challenging Donald Trump's
exclusionary, anti-refugee policies on all fronts, and I challenge my
colleagues to do the same.
Folks are looking to the Senate for strong, principled leaders. They
want more than rhetoric; they want results.
So I urge my colleagues in the strongest terms to honor this World
Refugee Day by rolling up their sleeves and working to revive America's
historic, bipartisan commitment to the plight of refugees around the
world.
Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, it has been said many times before, but it
bears repeating today more than ever, on World Refugee Day--ours is a
country built by immigrants. We have a proud tradition of welcoming
foreigners to our shores.
The first European settlers in North America--those who founded our
original Thirteen Colonies--were fleeing religious oppression and
persecution. Over the following decades, America became, in the words
of Thomas Paine, ``the asylum for the persecuted.'' We welcomed Irish
Catholics fleeing starvation and British rule, Germans fleeing
political turmoil, Eastern European Jews fleeing the pogroms, and
countless others. Over the generations, America welcomed Europeans
displaced by war, and later, millions of refugees seeking political
asylum from Communism during the Cold War.
In 1980, we passed landmark legislation--the Refugee Act--which
provided a permanent and systemized procedure for admitting refugees.
This law established the concept of a Presidential determination on
refuge admissions, by which the President can set the number of
refugees that the United States may admit in a given year. For the past
40 years, both Democratic and Republican administrations demonstrated a
commitment to robust resettlement. Prior to the Trump administration,
the average annual refugee admissions cap was 95,000 refugees.
Administration officials of both parties took seriously the
Presidential determination and worked to maintain a resettlement rate
on par with it.
At nearly every juncture in history since its founding, America has
been called upon to be a leader in welcoming the persecuted. More often
than not, we have answered that call and today, it sounds to us louder
than ever. With more than 24 million refugees around the globe, America
must step into our historic leadership role, not away from it.
Now is the time to increase the refugee admissions ceiling, not cut
it. Now is the time to build up our resettlement infrastructure, not
decimate it. Now is the time to open our door, not close it. But the
Trump administration betrayed the foundational values of this Nation by
slashing our annual refugee admissions ceiling to a dismal 30,000
refugees. This was an unprecedented low, both in number and humanity.
That is why I introduced the GRACE Act. This bill prohibits any U.S.
President from setting an admission ceiling below 95,000 refugees each
year and requires administration officials to treat that figure as a
goal.
We must not be silent. We must continue to meet the global crisis of
displaced persons head on, and like our forefathers, we must extend a
hand to those fleeing persecution around the word. Thank you.
____________________