Speech #960154313

Mr. Speaker. I rise in support of House Concurrent Resolution 202. urging the Soviet Union to allow Ida Nudel to emigrate to Israel. Ida Nudel. the celebrated "Angel of Prisoners of Conscience" languishes today in a Siberian prison camp for the crime of seeking to emigrate to Israel. The only woman dissident in exile in the Soviet Union. she has become a symbol of that nations callous disregard for basic human rights. In 1971 Ida Nudel first applied to emigrate to Israel and rejoin her only living relatives. From that time forward she devoted her life to the plight of other Jewish political prisoners throughout the Soviet Union who. like herself. have suffered so much for their beliefs. For 7 years Ida Nudel brought hope and renewed spirit to the many people who had simply vanished from friends and relatives. By collecting information about such cases. contacting families of prisoners and "adopting" the victims. she has earned the reputation of "Guardian Angel" of dissident prisoners. On June 2. 1978. while protesting the incarceration of a fellow activist. she defiantly unfurled a banner from her window overlooking a Moscow street with the words "KGB Give Me My Visa." She was immediately arrested and accused of "malicious hooliganism." Three weeks later. after a mock trial. she was sentenced to 4 years of exile in Siberia. Today she remains in a Siberian labor camp. in low spirits and deteriorating health. House Concurrent Resolution 202 calls attention to the plight of this brave woman and the continuing harassment of other political and religious activists and intellectuals in the Soviet Union. Furthermore. it recalls that the Soviets are signatories to the Helsinki accords. a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. and have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. all of which "guarantee to all people the right to emigrate." The resolution concluded that it is the sense of the Congress that in view of these facts "the U.S.S.R. should release Ida Nudel from exile and allow her to emigrate to Israel so that she can be reunited with her sister and husband." In addition. it urges the President to inform the Soviets that in evaluating our relations with other nations. we will take into account the extent that those countries "honor their commitments under international law. particularly with respect to the protection of human rights." This resolution is a reminder to the Soviet Government of our Nations high regard for human rights and that we do not conceive such fundamental rights to be. as the Soviets leading jurist. Judge Smirnov. wrote. in his white paper. "a propaganda vehicle of the West." As a cosponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 202. I urge all of my colleagues to join with me in support of this legislation.