President. I am pleased to be associated with the junior Senator from Washington and a number of other distinguished colleagues in offering an amendment to S. 2620. the EastWest Trade Relations Act. This amendment will make U.S. trade concessions to the Soviet Union contingent upon their withdrawal of the outrageous and exorbitant exit taxes which they are charging to members of their Jewish minority who desire to emigrate. I have already stated at some length my reasons for supporting this amendment. and a number of our colleagues. including Senator JACKSON. have spoken most eloquently on this subject. I would only reiterate. therefore. that what we are trying to do with this amendment is to make the Soviets alive to the very genuine and real concern that Americans and their Congress have with regard to the plight of Soviet Jewry. It must be accepted as a political reality that the American people are not going to look favorably on increased trade relations with the Soviet Union at a time when the leaders of that country are mistreating their Jewish minority and denying their Jewish citizens a fundamental human rightthe right of free emigration. The American people and their leaders are not indifferent to the political repression of minority groups or to the ransoming of individuals. They do not turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to legitimate demands for justice and morality by any group. If we can make this reality crystal clear to the Soviet leaders. I think that we will be well on the way toward achieving two goalsfree emigration for Soviet Jews who wish to live outside the Soviet Union and increased. mutually beneficial EastWest economic relationships.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration