Mr. President. 76 Senators who are joined in this amendment share the deep commitment of the American people to the fundamental human rights affirmed more than 25 years ago by the United Nations. America then played a leading role in the drafting and the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. and now it is time for America to take the lead in assuring that the right of free emigration. so central to the Universal Declaration. is supported by the full weight of our economic power. Our amendment. Mr. President. is a simple one. It would require the President. prior to the granting of mostfavorednation treatment to nonmarket economiesthe Soviet Union and the countries of Central Europeor the extension to them of credits. credit guarantees or investment guarantees. to submit to the Congress a report indicating that the recipient of these benefits does not deny its citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate. Moreover. the President would be required to report that the country in question does not resort to more than nominal taxes as a means of denying its citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate. This report. required initially prior to the granting of trade benefits would have to be submitted semiannually thereafter so long as the benefits were extended. It is this provision that will enable the Congress to assure that its insistence on the right to free emigration is and will remain a condition of American economic assistance to the Soviet Union and other nonmarket economies. . There is absolutely nothing in this amendment which would prevent an American businessman or an agency of the U.S. Government from trading with the Soviet Union or any other nation.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration