I rise in strong support of this resolution expressing grave concern over the harsh penalties imposed by the Soviet Union on Jewish citizens charged with conspiring to hijack a Soviet airliner. their only means to escape Soviet persecution. I am happy to have been a cosponsor of this resolution. I believe that the New York Times was correct in recently pointing out that "The real defendants in the court were not the handful of accused. but the tens of thousands of Soviet Jews who have courageously demanded the right to emigrate to Israel." That is why this resolution is still most timely. even though the death sentences have been commuted and other sentences reduced. This action was welcome and shows that the Soviet Union is not immune to world opinion. But it leaves the basic problem unresolved and indeed it leaves the sentences in this case cruelly harsh.
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emigrate