III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 254 

Commemorating June 20, 2019, as ‘‘World Refugee Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CARPER, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. 

COONS, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. 

HIRONO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. BOOKER, Mrs. 

MURRAY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. KAINE, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. REED, Ms. 

SMITH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. BROWN, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mrs. SHAHEEN) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating June 20, 2019, as ‘‘World Refugee Day’’. 

Whereas World Refugee Day is a global day to acknowledge 

the courage, strength, and determination of women, men, 

and children who are forced to flee their homes due to 

persecution; 

Whereas, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (referred to in this preamble as 

‘‘UNHCR’’) and the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 

96–212), a refugee is someone who— 

(1) is outside of the country of his or her nationality; and 


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•SRES 254 IS 

(2) is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons 

of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group; 

Whereas according to the United Nations High Commissioner 

for Refugees— 

(1) there are more than 70,800,000 displaced people 

worldwide, the worst displacement crisis in global history, 

including 25,900,000 refugees, more than 41,300,000 internally displaced people, and 3,500,000 asylum seekers; 

(2) the refugee population under UNHCR’s mandate 

has nearly doubled since 2012; 

(3) 67 percent of the world’s refugees come from 

just 5 countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, 

Burma, and Somalia; 

(4) children account for about 1⁄2 of the refugee population in the world, millions of whom are unable to access basic services including education; 

(5) 13,600,000 individuals were newly displaced due 

to conflict or persecution in 2018, including 10,800,000 

internally displaced persons and 2,800,000 refugees and 

asylum seekers, an average of 37,000 people per day; 

(6) more than 1⁄2 of Syrians lived in displacement in 

2018, either displaced across international borders or 

within their own country; 

(7) for the fourth consecutive year, Lebanon hosted 

the largest number of refugees relative to its population, 

where 1 in 6 people are refugees; 

(8) more than 1,400,000 refugees were in need of 

resettlement to a third country in 2018; and 

(9) 25 countries admitted 92,400 refugees for resettlement in 2018; 


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Whereas refugee children are 5 times more likely to be out 

of school than nonrefugee children; 

Whereas refugees who are women and children are often at 

greater risk of violence, human trafficking, exploitation, 

and gender-based violence; 

Whereas the United States resettlement program is a life-saving solution critical to global humanitarian efforts, which 

serves to strengthen global security, advance United 

States foreign policy goals, and support regional host 

countries, while assisting individuals and families in need; 

Whereas, during the first 6 months of fiscal year 2019, the 

United States welcomed 12,155 refugees into the country, which is fewer than 50 percent of the administration’s refugee admissions goal of 30,000 refugees; 

Whereas, at this pace, the United States may not meet its 

fiscal year 2019 refugee admissions goal; 

Whereas refugees are the most vetted traveler to enter the 

United States and are subject to extensive screening 

checks, including in person interviews, biometric data 

checks, and multiple interagency checks; 

Whereas refugees are major contributors to local economies, 

pay an average of $21,000 more in taxes than they receive in benefits, and revitalize cities and towns by offsetting population decline and boosting economic growth 

throughout the country by opening businesses, paying 

taxes, and buying homes; and 

Whereas several industries rely heavily on refugee workers to 

support their economic stability, and low rates of arrivals 

of refugees, especially in towns that rely on refugee populations to revitalize their industries, has had serious impacts on economic growth: Now, therefore, be it 


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1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms the bipartisan commitment of the 

3 United States to promote the safety, health, and 

4 well-being of the millions of refugees, including the 

5 education of refugee children and displaced persons 

6 who flee war, persecution, or torture in search of 

7 peace, hope, and freedom; 

8 (2) recognizes those individuals who have risked 

9 their lives working individually and for nongovern10 mental organizations and international agencies, 

11 such as UNHCR, to provide life-saving assistance 

12 and protection for people displaced by conflicts 

13 around the world; 

14 (3) underscores the importance of the United 

15 States refugee resettlement program as a critical 

16 tool for United States global leadership— 

17 (A) to leverage foreign policy; 

18 (B) to strengthen national and regional se19 curity; and 

20 (C) to demonstrate international support 

21 of refugees; 

22 (4) calls upon the United States Government— 

23 (A) to continue providing robust funding 

24 for refugee protection overseas and resettlement 

25 in the United States; 


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1 (B) to uphold its international leadership 

2 role in responding to displacement crises with 

3 humanitarian assistance and protection of the 

4 most vulnerable populations; 

5 (C) to work in partnership with the inter6 national community to find solutions to existing 

7 conflicts and prevent new conflicts from begin8 ning; 

9 (D) to alleviate the burden placed on front10 line refugee host countries, such as the 

11 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the People’s 

12 Republic of Bangladesh, and the Federal Demo13 cratic Republic of Ethiopia, that absorb the ma14 jority of the world’s refugees through humani15 tarian and development support; 

16 (E) to meet the challenges of the worst ref17 ugee crisis in recorded history by increasing the 

18 number of refugees welcomed to and resettled 

19 in the United States to not fewer than 30,000 

20 refugees during fiscal year 2019 and not fewer 

21 than 95,000 refugees during fiscal year 2020; 

22 and 

23 (F) to reaffirm its long-standing tradition 

24 of resettling the most vulnerable refugees, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:33 Jun 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR254.IS SR254

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1 gardless of their country of origin or religious 

2 beliefs; and 

3 (5) reaffirms the goals of World Refugee Day 

4 and reiterates the strong commitment to protect the 

5 millions of refugees who live without material, social, 

6 or legal protections. 

Æ 


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