Speech #910304130

Thus far. Soviet attempts to extradite them have been unsuccessful. Yet documents brought back from the U.S.S.R. by tourists within recent weeks attest to the fact that the first eight of 10 persons arrested after the hijacking were Jews said to have applied for permission to emigrate to Israel. A roundup of searches and arrests by the Soviet authorities have netted several more persons. all of whom are Jews. The swiftness of the arrests. said to be completed within 30 minutes. coupled with the lack of any information from the actual hijackers no longer within the U.S.S.R.. leads us to believe that this is simply another trumped up charge in order to permit Russia to persecute its dissatisfied Jewish population. Mr. Speaker. as a sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 744. which condemns religious persecution by the Soviet Union and gives congressional support to the President to diplomatically negotiate for Soviet Jews to emigrate to Israel. I believe that it is necessary to remain aware of the terrible invasion of human rights perpetrated by the Soviets against Jews. We must see to it that the pernicious antisemitic activities of the Russians are brought to public attention in the hope that they will be mitigated.