Speech #930162439

ULLMAN. ruled the very language which is the subject of the Vanik amendment to be nongermane. within the jurisdiction of the Committee on Banking and Currency and out of orderand that his ruling was sustained by a vote of the committee membership. Far more important. from a substantive point of view. is that there was virtually no testimony taken by the Committee on Ways and Means with respect to the effect of the extension or denial of Government programs of export credit to state trading countries. In fact. the committee print. briefing paper No. 8. of the Committee on Ways and Means indicates that only one public witness testified with respect to the right to emigrate as an amendment to the Trade Reform Act of 1973. I should point out in this connection that the ExportImport Bank Act expires on June 30. 1974. that the administration has requested new authority for the Bank. and hearings before the Subcommittee on International Trade of the Committee on Banking and Currency. which I chair. will be held on this subject early in the next session. Mr. Chairman. my friendship and support for Israel are a matter of record stretching over a period of more than two decades. I have traveled there extensively and I was one of the early voices in the Congress to support the intricate water distribution system that has so dramatically turned vast deserts into productive farmlands. Nor have I been silent with respect to the historic policy of the Soviet Union which has precluded its citizens from leaving that country. or to the exorbitant fees required as a condition of emigration in a great number of instances. The fact remains that the Vanik amendment may well become the law of this land without changing Soviet policy one iota. Is it worth the risk of pushing the Soviets into a decision to cut back on the emigration of Soviet Jews to Israel. now at a pace of more than 3.000 a month? Can we assume that the Soviets are so eager for trade with the United States and are so dependent on U.S. exports and credits that they will acquiesce to what they consider to be interference in their internal affairs? In my view.