Speech #930032216

Mr. Speaker. recent reports of a change in Soviet policy with regard to the imposition of heavy taxes on individuals wishing to emigrate is a promising and gratifying development. It does not. however. in my judgment. remove the need to include a provision along the lines of the JacksonMillsVanik amendment. of which I am a cosponsor. in any legislation granting trade concessions to the Soviet Union and other East European nations. If the Soviets genuinely intend to stick to their decision to do away with the tax. then any provision making future trade concessions contingent on open emigration policies would only serve to endorse that policy. That. in my judgment. is a small concession for the Soviets to make in return for the very substantial benefits they stand to reap from largescale trade with the United States. The American publicatlarge. on the other hand. stands to gain little from expanded trade with the Soviet Union. If anything. it is likely to contribute to rising food costs that are already making life miserable for millions of Americans. Assurance that freedom of Soviet citizens to emigrate will accompany any increased U.S.S.R.-American trade would at least give the American public the satisfaction of knowing that the cause of human freedom had been advanced. In any case. Mr. Speaker. there continues to be many cases of persecution and refusal of requests of Soviet citizens to emigrate which call into serious question the sincerity and good intentions of the Soviets on this matter. The following are four examples of cases which have come to my attention in recent weeks: First. Mr. Youra Berkovsky. an engineer. his wife. Anna. a teacher of English. and their 3yearold daughter Rina have applied to emigrate to Israel. but so far have been denied permission to leave. As is so often the case. these individuals were immediately dismissed from their jobs when they announced their intention to emigrate in August of 1972. They have committed no crime. and they should be permitted to join their people in Israel. The Berkovskys live at Novogodnee 36. room 40.