by Cragg Hines
05/12/2007

To read the entire article, click here.

Below is an excerpt from the Houston Chronicle:

Amid the fallout from the war in Iraq is a refugee crisis that is growing daily, and the United States is, sadly, part of the mounting problem. In the early years of the conflict, the Bush administration ignored the thousands of Iraqis who fled the growing conflict.

To admit to the problem would have been to admit to what has become the failure of the Bush war.

The arrival of Iraqi refugees into the United States was a trickle, a total of less than 500 in fiscal years 2004, 2005 and 2006. Finally, in late winter, the administration, through a State Department official, said 7,000 Iraqi refugees could be processed in fiscal 2007, which runs through Sept. 30.

But in the first seven months of the fiscal year, only 69 Iraqi refugees were admitted to the United States, according to State Department figures. That's compared with 3,600 from Somalia, 1,600 from Burma, 1,200 from Russia and — perhaps most ironically — 2,500 from Iraq's next-door neighbor, Iran.

According to Megan Fowler with Refugees International, the State Department blames the Department of Homeland Security for lagging on its preparation of refugee clearance and admission policies and, in turn, DHS says State hasn't asked for any.

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In an attempt to bring congressional pressure to bear on the problem, a House bill was introduced last week to allow 20,000 especially vulnerable Iraqi refugees to settle in the United States by the end of fiscal 2008 and to establish a special immigrant visa for 15,000 Iraqis in each year 2009-2012.

The measure, H.R. 2265 was introduced by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill. By the end of the week there was only one Republican co-sponsor, Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut.

The proposal needs an additional provision: a mandate to create at least one Iraqi refugee settlement program in the district of the most ardent supporters of the war in Iraq.

Texas would be brimming over, given the knee-jerk support of the state's Republican delegation in Congress — with the notable exception of Rep. Ron Paul, who wants to pull up the drawbridge.

But if there are consequences to action, awarding Iraqi refugee centers to the president's most steadfast supporters would be only fitting. Why not start in the Houston-area district of Republican Rep. Ted Poe?

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