On the eve of the Secretarys departure. two warnings were sounded in the United States which underlined one of the most important points at stake in these discussions. On March 21. Rabbi Israel Miller. chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. and Stanley Lowell. newly elected chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. issued a joint statement on behalf of nearly 40 member organizations and hundreds of local community councils urging the Secretary "to unequivocally state the view of the American people in regard to emigration of Soviet Jews." The full text of the statement follows: On the eve of the departure of the Secretary of State to the Soviet Union. the American Jewish Community has received alarming reports of a severe decline In the emigration of Soviet Jews. This Soviet effort to shrink the movement of Jews to Israel and elsewhere is contrary to ongoing efforts to expand. Mindful of the impact of pending trade legislation on the emigration of Soviet Jews. we therefore choose this moment to endorse the strongest possible legislation by the Congress. which will assist an unhampered and unrestricted emigration. We unanimously state our support for the Jackson Amendment. now before the Senate. which was overwhelmingly passed by the House of Representatives. We have requested the Secretary of State to continue this Administrations efforts. and to unequivocally state the view of the American people in regard to emigration of Soviet Jews. We trust that the Secretary will convince the Soviet Union that the roots of the problem and the resolution of the issues are in Moscow. On March 24. nationally syndicated columnist Joseph Kraft developed this same point. concluding that easing the conditions for emigration of Soviet Jews is "an extremely narrow concession to ask in return for easier (trade) credits." I commend both these cogent and powerful statements to the attention of my colleagues in the belief that many of us share the hope that Secretary Kissinger will return from this latest mission with heartening news of a Soviet decision to fully observe the internationally guaranteed right of emigration. The Kraft column follows: [From the Washington Post. Mar. 24. 1974] (By Joseph Kraft)
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emigration