Mr. President. last week there were hints from Moscow that Soviet citizens wishing to emigrate would be granted permission to do so. The suggestion that Soviet citizens would at last be given their freedom was whispered to Western journalists by unnamed Soviet "sources." A handful of visas were distributed. The news was managed with unusual sophistication: The Soviets went so far as to invite a television crew to the Moscow offices where cutrate visas were being issued to educated Jews who had been waiting months and even years for permission to emigrate. And Victor Louis. the Moscow "journalist" who surfaces like an oil slick whenever the Kremlin needs a PR man. suggested in an Israeli newspaper that the Kremlin has decided to stop collecting the "education" tax on emigrating Jews. but the law will remain on the statute books. That was last week. This week. Mr. President. one courageous family. scattered on three continents. is risking starvation to obtain freedom and to make it clear to us what they already know: That there has been no genuine movement toward a policy of free emigration in the Soviet Union. that families are still being cruelly divided. and that. tax or no tax. there are innocent men and women in the Soviet Union who cannot buy a visa at any price. Mr. President.
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