Speech #960093892

I rise to speak in opposition to House Resolution 317 which would disapprove mostfavorednation status for Romania. My support of the extension of MFN status while unenthusiastic is nonetheless firm. When MFN for Romania was first being considered by the Congress in 1975. the relevant House and Senate committees agreed to the extension with the understanding that the emigration performance would continue to rise in proportion to the number of individuals indicating a desire to leave. In taking favorable action on MEN. the Congress accepted the State Departments urging that actual future Romanian performance be used as the measure by which to judge that countrys compliance with section 402(c) of the Trade Act of 1974. Clearly. Romanias performance in the area of emigration has been less than satisfactory. Since 1974. Romanian emigration to Israel has fallen from more than 3.700 to a projected 1979 level of less than 700. Combined emigration to the United States and Israel has fallen over 30 percent since 1974. However. just recently. the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Romanian Government completed a series of discussions during which the Romanian Government gave several important assurances concerning emigration. These assurances included the following: First. The Romanian Government will furnish to representatives of the Presidents Conference as soon as practicable. but no later than the end of August. an accounting of the number of pending applications by Romanian Jews seeking to emigrate. The accounting will include the date each application was filed. This accounting will be furnished thereafter on a regular periodic basis. Second. The Romanian Government will invite Rabbi Rosen. the chief Rabbi of Romania. to make it known to the Romanian Jewish community that persons wishing to emigrate are free to do so. meaning that applications will be readily available and will be processed expeditiously. Should misunderstandings arise in the future. the Romanian Government has indicated its willingness to have Rabbi Rosen repeat these assurances. Third. The Jewish community of Romania will be informed through appropriate and effective channels that persons seeking to emigrate to Israel may. but shall not be required to. obtain letters of invitation from relatives in Israel. However. persons seeking to emigrate to Israel shall receive the same treatment from the Romanian Government in passing uvon their applications whether or not such letters of invitation have been obtained. It is understood by the Romanian Government that the conference may. as a result of such letters of invitation. assemble a list of persons seeking to apply for permission to emigrate from Romania and that this list will be used by it in future consultations with the Romanian Government. Further. the Romanian Government has assured the rc presentatives of the conference that it will seek to resolve favorably cases vhich derive from such a list. My support of an extension of MFN status for Romania is based on a belief that these assurances will lead to a free flow of emigrants from Romania. There are. however. several serious reasons for caution. The agreement vas arrived at between the Romanian Government and a private organization. Both parties to the agreement have stated that the agreement is not legally binding. Several times in the past. the Romanian Government has given assurances concerning emigration and human rights to various groups and individuals. I am sure that many of my colleagues have received such assurances. which. for whatever reasons. have never become actualities. We must therefore do our best to insure that the Romanian Government is held accountable for the assurance it has given this year. During the next 12 months we must keep a careful watch on the levels of emigration to both the United States and Israel. Should the Romanians fail to fulfill their commitment to a free flow of emigrationas outlined in the agreement between the Romanian Government and the Conference of Presidentswe will have no choice but to withhold MFN status next summer.*