Speech #920206684

House Concurrent Resolution 471 calls upon the President to take the following four steps with regard to the plight of Soviet Jews: First. call upon the Soviets to permit free expression and the free exercise of religion by all of its citizens. Second. utilize our contacts with Moscow to seek an end to discrimination against religious minorities. Third. ask that the Soviet Government permit free emigration by its citizens. as guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. and. Fourth. raise in the U.N. General Assembly the question of Soviet violations of the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. especially against Jews and other minorities. In considering the issue of Soviet Jews. it is important to keep in mind the fact that there are two groups to which we refer. The essent.nl distinction between them is that some Soviet Jews wish to leave the Soviet Union. to emigrate to Israel. the United States. or other nations. while some wish to remain there and be allowed to live as Jews and to practice the Jewish religion. Jews who have sought to leave for Israel or to rejoin broken or scattered families elsewhere have encountered difficulty. harassment. and imprisonment. Jobs and educational opportunities may.be denied as soon as application for an exit visa is made. The pressure of world opinion. including resolutions such as this one. has had a salutary effect upon this problem. however. and it has eased somewhat in recent months. During my visit to Israel last summer. I was informed by officials at an absorption center providing temporary homes and training facilities for immigrants that the number of Soviet Jews migrating to Israel is now at the rate of 1.000 per month. Despite this stepup. many Soviet Jews are still seeking exit visas and enduring considerable hardships. including imprisonment. in the meantime. There have also been grave obstacles placed in the path of Jews who desire to remain in the Soviet Union. but who want the right to identify and live as Jews and to have free access to the Jewish language. cultural. religious. and educational institutions. Yiddishlanguage cultural and educational publications. which flourished during the early years of the Soviet regime. barely exist today.