The Senate should now take up the trade bill and at least decide whether it wants to normalize trade with the Soviet Union or not. The President should not be required to go to Moscow with the Senate still in a posture of obstruction on this matter. I did not think that linking the trade issue with Soviet emigration policy was a wise idea when it was first suggested. But. I have to admit that this initiative has had an apparent effect on the willingness of the Soviet leaders to grant exit visas. Many thousands of Soviet Jews and other minorities have gained permission to seek other homelands thanks to the fact that many Members of the Congress chose to link the issues of trade and emigration. However. the time has clearly come now to fashion a new policy. one that permits normalization of trade and contributes to the strengthening of a world economy as well as ours. It is time for Congress to stop obstructing progress in this matter. The trade bill which has been blocked from consideration for months should be brought up for action without further delay. The ground for compromise has been prepared. The President can and should be asked to report regularly to the Senate on the state of Soviet emigration policy. But. to hold the trade bill hostage for some ultimate or ideal solution is unwise and selfdefeating. The Senate. above all other bodies. should be able to distinguish between an imaginative and constructive expression of indignation and an act of intervention.
Keywords matched
emigration visas