But as these assurances. which he felt we had for ourselves. were critically important to our decision. that this was the way to go. it was very necessary to make clear exactly what we had in mind. We made that clear when. in clarifying what we did have in mind. we said that the 60.000 figure in Senator JACKSONS letter is Congress benchmark of Initial good faith performance by the Soviet Union in the matters of harassment and taxation against those who wish to leave. So we expressed it as our view that the 60.000 per annual initial figure given for persons who have applied to emigrate and wish to leave Russia each year remains a solid one. because it is the benchmark which we would apply in the event that the President sought to extend the waiver beyond the first 18month period. That was a critically important test. that understanding by the parties of what had been agreed to. I believe that the fact that the agreements survived that test very successfully is a very important augury as to the good faith andwe all pray and hopethe success with which they will be greeted as they mature and develop.
Keywords matched
emigrate