It is hardly surprising. Mr. Speaker. that many Soviet Jews want to emigrate to Israel. But the Kremlin grants few exit visasperhaps 10 percent of those sought. and even these slowly and grudgingly. Their cost is nothing short of extortionate. about $1.000. afabulous sum to any Russian citizen. After years of groping through the redtape strewn in their path by Soviet officialdom. Jews granted visas face still more vexing obstacles. Their departures are delayedoften for months. sometimes for years. And. since they must explicitly renounce Soviet citizenship to become eligible for visas in the first place. they are suspended in a kind of eerie political limbowithout jobs. without permanent living quarters. without official status of any kind. They become. as the newspapers whimsically say. "nonpersons." I know my colleagues join me in urging the State Department to renew its efforts for Soviet Jews. We in the Congress must continue to make their plight known to the world.
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emigrate visas