Speech #930063699

Jews who declare their wish to return to their national homeland are immediately fired from their jobs and are subject to every conceivable form of harassment including imprisonment. There can be no excuse for this pattern of systematic repression against tens of thousands of individuals who seek only to build a new life for themselves in Israel. The Soviet Union has often proclaimed its strong adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which guarantees the right of free emigration to all. We must make clear to Mr. Brezhnev that he may expect no commercial favors from the United States until his country lives up to its commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. No one has been fooled by the recent announcement that the notorious exit tax will no longer be enforced. The Soviet Union enforces and then ignores its own exit tax statutes whenever it hopes to win a particular favor from the freedomloving nations in the West. No one seriously believes that the Russians will not once again begin to enforce their "ransom" tax if they should receive trade concessions from the United States without the emigration guarantee of the MillsVanik bill. I was proud to be one of the original cosponsors in this Congress of the MillsVanik bill to prohibit mostfavorednation trade concessions by the United States to any country which limits freedom of emigration. This legislation now has the endorsement of 281 Members of the House and. in the form of the Jackson amendment. 7 cosponors in the Senate. The endorsement of this legislation by over 350 of the highest elected officials in the United States is striking evidence that America will stand firm in its sup-