Speech #920285630

My support for the steady normalization of our relations with the Soviet Union is based on the belief that as Russia is drawn further into the community of nations. its role in world affairs will reflect the moderating influences of International cooperation. Unfortunately. we have had an alarming indication recently that the Soviet Union is tightening. rather than relaxing. certain domestic policies. This is last months decision to impose exorbitant fees for exit visas for those Soviet citizens who wish to emigrate from Russia. The ostensible purpose of these fees is to have those leaving the Soviet Union reimburse the state for the cost of their education. The fees are determined In a sliding scale based on the degree of education. The scale begins at the equivalent of $5.000 and runsfor one with a doctorateto more than $25.000. While the visa fees apply to all who want to emigrate from the Soviet Union. the obvious reality of this situation is that the group most directly affected are Soviet Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel. This group. after all. constitutes the largest bloc of potential emigres. and with good reason. The Soviet Governments unfair treatment of its Jewish citizens. and the attempt to eradicate the last vestiges of Judaism in Russia are as much the source of this desire to emigrate as is the lure of the Jewish homeland. Mr. President. despite all the rhetoric in which the Soviet officials have sought to cloak. this new exit visa fee schedule. it really is a very simple program. it is a sliding scale of ransom of Soviet Jews who. faced with religious persecution in their homeland. want desperately to emigrate to Israel. It is. Mr. President. a remarkably overt form of international blackmail by which the Soviet Union has placed a price tag on the freedom of thousands of its citizens. It is a reprehensible form of bondage. an affront to international standards of human decency. and a sad reminder that the Soviet Union has never wavered from a national policy of denying religious freedom to its citizens. The unreasonable emigration fees are not the result of a sudden change in Soviet policy. but represent a carefully constructed plan. For it forces Soviet Jews to take one of several unpleasant alternatives. I They can enlist the assistance of freedomloving people around the world to pay the exit fees. This guarantees the Russians substantial foreign exchange since many well educated Soviet Jews are among those seeking to leave the U.S.S.R. In fact. It must be noted that among those. at the forefront of the emigration movement are many outstanding Jewish scientists who feel they can no longer properly use their talents in. the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Jews are unable or unwilling to raise the extremely high exit fees. they may discourage their children from pursuing their education so that this next generation will not be confronted with the higher exit fees that accompany advanced education. Should Soviet Jews reject the first two alternatives seeking outside help In raising emigration fees and limiting their education they are left with the choice of remaining in the Soviet Union with the depressing knowledge that they will be the victims of persecution if they attempt to pursue their religious traditions. The fact that none of the three alternatives are acceptable to the world community. is glaring evidence of the abhorrent nature of this new Soviet policy. Those of us in the United States. with our two centuries of individual and religious freedom. cannot stand idly aside as the Soviets turn the screws of oppression on their Jewish population.