That the Senate—
reaffirms the bipartisan commitment of the United States to promote the safety, health, and well-being of millions of refugees, including the education of refugee children and displaced persons who flee war, persecution, or torture in search of peace, hope, and freedom;
recognizes those individuals who have risked their lives working, either individually or for nongovernmental organizations and international agencies, such as UNHCR, to provide lifesaving assistance and protection for people displaced by conflicts around the world;
underscores the importance of the United States refugee resettlement program as a critical tool for the United States Government—
to leverage foreign policy;
to strengthen national and regional security; and
to demonstrate international support of refugees;
calls upon the United States Government—
to continue providing robust funding for refugee protection overseas and resettlement in the United States;
to uphold its international leadership role in responding to displacement crises with humanitarian assistance and protection of the most vulnerable populations;
to work in partnership with the international community to find solutions to existing conflicts and prevent new conflicts from beginning;
to ensure that—
the United States refugee resettlement program is equipped to protect and support refugees; and
the United States provides essential leadership to the international refugee assistance community and to local communities across the United States seeking to welcome refugees and to help them achieve the American dream;
to alleviate the burden placed on frontline refugee host countries, such as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Colombia, and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which receive the majority of the world’s refugees, and provide these countries with humanitarian and development support;
to endorse the Global Compact for Refugees, affirmed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 17, 2018, and join the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, done in Morocco July 11, 2018;
to terminate harmful policies that undermine refugee law and humanitarian principles, including—
the closure of the United States border to asylum seekers;
the Migrant Protection Protocols, implemented beginning on January 29, 2019; and
the Asylum Cooperative Agreements signed with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador in 2019;
to adopt a robust and inclusive interpretation of United States refugee law that takes into account the changed nature of conflict and persecution and increase complementary legal pathways for protection and entry into the United States;
to meet the challenges of the worst refugee crisis in recorded history by—
restoring United States leadership on refugee resettlement; and
increasing the number of refugees welcomed to and resettled in the United States to—
not fewer than 18,000 refugees during fiscal year 2020; and
not fewer than 95,000 refugees during fiscal year 2021; and
to restore the United States longstanding tradition of resettling the most vulnerable refugees and to avoid discrimination, including discrimination based on a refugee’s nationality or religious beliefs; and
reaffirms the goals of World Refugee Day and reiterates the strong commitment to protect the millions of refugees who live without material, social, or legal protections.