Speech #930357088

I addressed the House to express my concern over the fate of young Boris Penson. a Soviet artist who was sentenced in the "Leningrad Trial" of December 1970 to 10 years in a Soviet labor camp. Over a year ago. I wrote to Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin urging that he intercede on behalf of Boris Penson. whose only crime seems to have been applying for a visa to emigrate. Like so many others of -the defendants in the tragic 1970 hijacking trial in Leningrad. Boris Penson lost his freedom because he sought greater freedom. because he desired to emigrate from the Soviet Union. Particularly now. with the Soviets seemingly renouncing the agreements that have been made with regard to emigration. I feel it is urgent for the American people to reiterate our concern over the fate of these prisoners. We must let the Soviets know that we have not forgotten the countless men and women. like Boris Penson. who are suffering a harsh * form of punishment merely because of their desire to emigrate. - I never did receive a response from � Ambassador Dobrynin with regard to J Boris Penson. The energies and talents I of this gifted young man continue to waste away in a Soviet labor camp. Boris � Penson first came to my attention during the summer of 1973 when several of his paintings. which had been smuggled out of the Soviet Union. were exhibited in my own district on Long Island.