III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 674 

Commemorating June 20, 2020, as World Refugee Day. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6, 2020 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself and Mr. LEAHY) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Commemorating June 20, 2020, as World Refugee Day. 

Whereas World Refugee Day is a global event 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 section 101(a)(42) of the Immigration 

and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)), as added by 

section 201 of the Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96– 

212), a refugee is a person who— 

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

or habitual residence; and 

(2) is unable or unwilling to return because of a 

well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, reliVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR674.IS SR674

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gion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a 

particular social group; 

Whereas, according to the UNHCR, at the end of 2019— 

(1) there were at least 79,500,000 forcibly displaced 

people worldwide, which is the worst displacement crisis 

in recorded history, including— 

(A) 29,600,000 refugees; 

(B) more than 45,700,000 internally displaced 

people; and 

(C) 4,200,000 asylum seekers; 

(2) 1 person out of every 97 people worldwide was 

a refugee, an asylum seeker, or an internally displaced 

person; 

(3) the number of refugees under UNHCR’s mandate had doubled since 2010; 

(4) 68 percent of the world’s refugees came from 

only 5 countries (Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South 

Sudan, and Burma); 

(5) 73 percent of all refugees were residing in countries adjacent to the countries from which they had fled; 

(6) approximately 31,000,000 of the people who had 

been forcibly displaced and 50 percent of all refugees 

were children younger than 18 years of age, millions of 

whom were unable to access basic services, including education; 

(7) approximately 11,000,000 people were newly displaced due to recent conflict or persecution, including 

8,600,000 internally displaced persons and 2,400,000 refugees and asylum seekers, representing an average of at 

least 30,000 such people per day; 

(8) more than 50 percent of the population of Syria 

(at least 13,000,000 people) were displaced, either across 


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the international border or within Syria, which represents 

the largest displacement crisis in the world today; 

(9) more than 1,400,000 refugees needed resettlement to a third country (an 80-percent increase since 

2011), while only 107,800 refugees were resettled to a 

total of 26 countries; and 

(10) only 317,200 refugees voluntarily returned to 

their country or place of origin, which represents fewer 

than 2 percent of the 20,400,000 refugees under 

UNHCR’s mandate; 

Whereas millions of refugees around the world are stateless 

(not recognized as nationals by any state) and therefore 

require a path to citizenship as part of any solution to 

their displacement; 

Whereas refugee children are 5 times more likely to be out 

of school than non-refugee children; 

Whereas refugees who are women and girls are often at 

greater risk of violence, human trafficking, exploitation, 

and gender-based violence; 

Whereas more than 50 percent of refugees reside in urban 

areas; 

Whereas 85 percent of refugees and asylum seekers reside in 

developing countries, which places enormous additional 

pressure on the already limited resources of those countries; 

Whereas the average length of time refugees remain displaced 

from their home country ranges between 10 and 26 

years; 

Whereas while refugee resettlement is a critical solution for 

refugees, fewer than 10 percent of global resettlement 


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needs have been met and global refugee resettlement opportunities have fallen by 50 percent since 2016; 

Whereas the United States resettlement program, which was 

established 40 years ago— 

(1) is a lifesaving solution crucial to global humanitarian efforts; 

(2) strengthens global security; 

(3) advances United States foreign policy goals; 

(4) supports regional host countries; and 

(5) assists individuals and families in need; 

Whereas the United States annual refugee admissions ceiling 

fell from 85,000 in fiscal year 2016 to 18,000 in fiscal 

year 2020, which represents the lowest level in the history of the program; 

Whereas, as of June 19, 2020 (9 months into fiscal year 

2020), the United States had welcomed only 7,684 refugees into the country, which is fewer than 50 percent of 

the President’s 18,000 refugee admissions ceiling; 

Whereas, at this pace, the United States will not meet its fiscal year 2020 refugee admissions goal; 

Whereas, for fiscal year 2020, the United States, irrespective 

of global resettlement needs, designated new thematic 

and regional allocations for United States refugee admissions that prioritize— 

(1) refugees fleeing persecution on account of religious persecution; 

(2) Iraqis; and 

(3) refugees from Central America; 

Whereas refugees are the most vetted travelers to enter the 

United States and are subject to extensive screening 

checks that may last between 18 months and 3 years, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:42 Aug 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR674.IS SR674

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cluding in-person interviews, biometric data checks, and 

multiple interagency reviews; 

Whereas refugees— 

(1) are major contributors to local economies; 

(2) pay an average of $21,000 more in taxes than 

they receive in benefits; and 

(3) revitalize cities and towns by— 

(A) offsetting population decline; and 

(B) boosting economic growth by opening businesses, paying taxes, and buying homes; 

Whereas certain industries and towns rely heavily on refugee 

workers to support their economic stability, and low rates 

of arrivals of refugees have had serious impacts on economic growth; and 

Whereas, during the COVID–19 pandemic— 

(1) refugees, internally displaced persons, and asylum seekers, many of whom live in dangerously overcrowded settings and have inadequate access to basic 

services like healthcare, water, and sanitation, are especially vulnerable to the spread of the novel coronavirus; 

(2) well-intentioned government polices to mitigate 

the spread of the novel coronavirus may exacerbate inequalities and disproportionately impact those already 

suffering from conflict and persecution; 

(3) UNHCR and the International Organization for 

Migration suspended their international refugee resettlement operations for 3 months, which negatively affected 

at least 10,000 refugees who were already approved for 

travel to their respective countries of resettlement; 

(4) numerous countries have restricted access to asylum, including the United States, which summarily returned more than 40,000 asylum seekers gathered at the 


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southern United States border back to Mexico and only 

permitted 2 individuals to remain in the United States to 

request humanitarian protection between March 21 and 

May 13, 2020; and 

(5) many refugees are serving as critical frontline 

health professionals and essential workers combating the 

COVID–19 pandemic in the United States and other host 

countries: Now, therefore, be it 

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 millions of refugees, including the edu5 cation of refugee children and displaced persons who 

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

7 hope, and freedom; 

8 (2) recognizes those individuals who have risked 

9 their lives working, either individually or for non10 governmental organizations and international agen11 cies, such as UNHCR, to provide lifesaving assist12 ance 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 the United States Government— 

17 (A) to leverage foreign policy; 

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


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1 (C) to demonstrate international support 

2 of refugees; 

3 (4) calls upon the United States Government— 

4 (A) to continue providing robust funding 

5 for refugee protection overseas and resettlement 

6 in the United States; 

7 (B) to uphold its international leadership 

8 role in responding to displacement crises with 

9 humanitarian assistance and protection of the 

10 most vulnerable populations; 

11 (C) to work in partnership with the inter12 national community to find solutions to existing 

13 conflicts and prevent new conflicts from begin14 ning; 

15 (D) to ensure that— 

16 (i) the United States refugee resettle17 ment program is equipped to protect and 

18 support refugees; and 

19 (ii) the United States provides essen20 tial leadership to the international refugee 

21 assistance community and to local commu22 nities across the United States seeking to 

23 welcome refugees and to help them achieve 

24 the American dream; 


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1 (E) to alleviate the burden placed on front2 line refugee host countries, such as the 

3 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the People’s 

4 Republic of Bangladesh, the Republic of Ugan5 da, the Republic of Colombia, and the Federal 

6 Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which receive 

7 the majority of the world’s refugees, and pro8 vide these countries with humanitarian and de9 velopment support; 

10 (F) to endorse the Global Compact for 

11 Refugees, affirmed by the United Nations Gen12 eral Assembly on December 17, 2018, and join 

13 the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Reg14 ular Migration, done in Morocco July 11, 2018; 

15 (G) to terminate harmful policies that un16 dermine refugee law and humanitarian prin17 ciples, including— 

18 (i) the closure of the United States 

19 border to asylum seekers; 

20 (ii) the Migrant Protection Protocols, 

21 implemented beginning on January 29, 

22 2019; and 

23 (iii) the Asylum Cooperative Agree24 ments signed with Guatemala, Honduras, 

25 and El Salvador in 2019; 


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1 (H) to adopt a robust and inclusive inter2 pretation of United States refugee law that 

3 takes into account the changed nature of con4 flict and persecution and increase complemen5 tary legal pathways for protection and entry 

6 into the United States; 

7 (I) to meet the challenges of the worst ref8 ugee crisis in recorded history by— 

9 (i) restoring United States leadership 

10 on refugee resettlement; and 

11 (ii) increasing the number of refugees 

12 welcomed to and resettled in the United 

13 States to— 

14 (I) not fewer than 18,000 refu15 gees during fiscal year 2020; and 

16 (II) not fewer than 95,000 refu17 gees during fiscal year 2021; and 

18 (J) to restore the United States long19 standing tradition of resettling the most vulner20 able refugees and to avoid discrimination, in21 cluding discrimination based on a refugee’s na22 tionality or religious beliefs; and 

23 (5) reaffirms the goals of World Refugee Day 

24 and reiterates the strong commitment to protect the 


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1 millions of refugees who live without material, social, 

2 or legal protections. 

Æ 


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