[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20416-20417]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         MATERIAL SUPPORT BILL

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Madam Speaker, Saturday's New York Times ran an editorial 
headlined Punishing Refugees Twice, which describes a very real problem 
that deserves our attention. The PATRIOT Act and the REAL ID Act are 
important laws to keep out of the U.S. those who provide aid to 
terrorists. However, an excessively broad interpretation of the law has 
tied our hands when it comes to admitting harmless refugees into 
America. No distinction is made for people who have been coerced under 
duress to provide material support, including under threat of rape or 
death or at gunpoint.
  In addition, the definitions make no exceptions for people or groups 
that our government supports or that support our government, such as 
those resisting ethnic cleansing by the dictatorship in Burma, or anti-
Castro groups in Cuba, or the Montagnards.
  H.R. 5918 would fix this problem by allowing us greater ability to 
distinguish between our friends and our enemies. The many terrorism-
related bars on entry would all remain in place.
  I urge consideration and support of this bill.

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