President. I am extremely pleased to be able to report that Dr. Leonid Tarassuk. the internationally renowned Soviet museum authority whose yearlong struggle to gain permission to emigrate drew worldwide attention and sympathy. has arrived in Vienna with his family. I know that my colleagues. many of whom have expressed concern over the fate of the Tarassuks. join me in welcoming these brave people to the free world. It is my hope that the Soviet Government will correctly assess the determination of the American people and the U.S. Congress on the issue of individual liberty. and that as the days go by we will be able to welcome to the free world many. many more individuals who have dared demand their fundamental human right to emigrate. Dr. Tarassuk was the former curator of EuropeanAmerican arms and armor at the famed Hermitage Museum in Leningrad. He and his wife. a conservator of decorative arts. were dismissed from the Hermitage after applying to emigrate and were subsequently denied visas as well. The Tarassuks have two small children. Dr. Tarassuks mother. who had been granted a visa. was unable to leave without her son because she is too old and too ill to travel alone. Despite his own terrible ordeal. and at great personal risk. Dr. Tarassuk courageously lent encouragement and support to many other Soviet citizens who are harassed and intimidated by the Soviet Government as a consequence of applying to emigrate. Mr. President. given the especially compelling circumstances of the situation of Dr.
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