Speech #960134109

Korpus 1. Apt. 69. Moscow. his wife and their two young sons. who first applied for an exit visa 6 years ago next month. Soon after Dr. Rosensteins application was received. he was dismissed from his post at a medical institute. The authorities have refused to grant him a visa because they have claimed his research of 14 years ago was sensitive and secret. This is obviously a weak excuse. for Dr. Rosenstein has devoted his career to the study of epilepsy. and the results of his research have been published in scientific journals both here and in the U.S.S.R. But now he is forced to depend on menial work to support his family. and even those jobs are sometimes made unavailable to him. Nevertheless. he has continued to participate in Jewish cultural seminars and translate religious literature into Russian. The Rosensteins son Misha was promised an exit visa separate from the rest of his family in May of 1979. Unfortunately this appears to have been revoked. with no reason given. and Misha stands a chance of being drafted into the Soviet Army. Once drafted he will also be held for several years because of the claim that he will have been privy to state secrets in the armed forces. I recently received a letter from Dr. Rosenstein which appears at the end of this statement. Unfortunately he believes that my letters to Soviet officials may have caused them to revoke the exit visa previously promised to his son Misha. This possibility shocked and saddened me. but I am afraid the Soviet bureaucracy is capable of just this kind of retaliation. So I have had to reevaluate my entire strategy here. to look again at my efforts and those of so many of my colleagues in the House to help the Soviet refuseniks. There is a chance that every time we try to help a family the Soviets will decide not to let them emigrate. so we may be doing more harm than good. We may be. but I do not think we are. The Soviet Union. despite the warnings of its leaders. is very susceptible to outside pressures. After 30 years of "building socialism." the U.S.S.R. cannot feed its own people. its standard of living is far below that of the West and other Eastern European nations. and its industry is dependent on Western technology and science. The "labor surplus" which was supposed to flow to the workers after the fall of capitalism has instead gone to the bureaucrats and party members. So they need the United States. they need foreign trade. and I think if we continue to press for reforms in emigration policy we may gain some concessions. Not great ones. but every person freed and allowed to live where he pleases is a great step forward and a great victroy. So I intend to continue my efforts for the Rosensteins. and for the two other Soviet families I have "adopted." the Fradkins and the Paritksys.