|
Washington Update Campaign for Refugees: As regular FYI readers know, the U.S. refugee program is in danger of severe cutbacks, and refugee advocates around the country are doing something about it. In a nutshell, the Clinton administration is requesting only $658 million for Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) in the foreign operations budget for fiscal year 2001. This means reducing assistance to African refugees by nearly $14 million and cutting U.S. refugee admissions by 9,000. Congressional proposals are even worse: $645 million in the House and $615 million in the Senate. LIRS and the Refugee Council USA insist on a minimum of $700 million. Following on the tremendous success of the Mobile (Ala.) Campaign for Refugees, which prompted Rep. Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., to boost the House figure by $23 million, the Kentucky Campaign for Refugees is beginning to shake the previously crabbed budget tree of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. One of his aides suggests that McConnell may now be willing to move off his low figure and that he is "totally supportive" of MRA. The aide did not commit to specifics, however, so we are waiting to see if the senator will take action. Of course congressional staffers tend to tell advocates what they want to hear, but it's definitely a positive sign that they feel the need to say such things. The campaign has also made presentations in other key areas-northern Illinois, Alaska and Houston-and is planning more for Mississippi and St. Petersburg, Fla., before the final budget showdown at the end of the session.
|
|
