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“WE MUST DO MORE TO HELP THE IRAQI REFUGEES” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H7728 on July 7, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
WE MUST DO MORE TO HELP THE IRAQI REFUGEES
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, after more than 6 years of foreign occupation, occupation that never should have happened in the first place, American combat troops have been withdrawn from Iraqi cities. This has led some people to believe that the conflict is over. But our troops remain in danger so long as they continue to stay in Iraq. And the suffering of the Iraqi people, especially the refugees, hasn't ended either.
A report issued last month by the International Rescue Committee described the bleak lives of the Iraqi refugees who have come to the United States to escape the violence in their home country. We admitted over 13,800 Iraqi refugees in the year 2008. Many of them had to come here because they worked for the United States military or the United States Government in Iraq and they became targets for retaliation as a result.
A large number of the refugees are war widows with young children. They are grieving over the loss of their loved ones, and many are suffering war-related emotional distress or injuries. While the refugees are grateful to be in America, most are frustrated and even in despair. The International Rescue Committee says, A flawed U.S. refugee admissions program is resettling Iraqi refugees into poverty rather than helping them rebuild their lives.
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The committee says that the Federal program designed to help the refugees doesn't meet their basic needs. The resettlement program is badly underfunded and newly arriving refugees get a mere pittance. The United States State Department provides $900 to each refugee. The refugees are also eligible for State assistance, which varies from State to State, but which averages about $575 a month.
In addition, the refugees are eligible for Medicaid or a Federal medical assistance program, but the program runs out after 8 months. With this tiny amount of assistance, the refugees are supposed to pay rent, utilities, food, clothes, transportation and all the other expenses of daily life.
Put yourself in their shoes. If you were a refugee, already suffering from trauma and injury, could you and your family make it in a country that is as high cost as the United States of America with so little help?
The refugees are searching for jobs to help pay the bills, but we know how hard that is. And in Atlanta, for example, only 25 percent of the Iraqi refugees have been able to find jobs when they were here for over 6 months. Resettlement agencies, which received State Department funding, are struggling to do as much as they can, and they are providing a number of very important services, but their resources are dwindling because of the recession.
As a result of all these problems, Madam Speaker, many of the refugees are destitute and facing eviction from their homes. Some are wondering if they should have stayed in Iraq, even though their lives would have been in danger.
Madam Speaker, the Iraqi refugee in our country deserves better. The International Rescue Committee has called for an increase in Federal assistance to help alleviate the situation. We must support them by doing more.
We had a hand in their upheaval. Now we must give them a hand in their new country. We have a moral obligation to act.
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