Speech #960154317

Mr. Speaker. I support House Concurrent Resolution 202. urging the Soviet Union to allow Ida Nudel to emigrate to Israel. One of the major achievements of the Helsinki Final Act was a pledge by all signatories to do everything possible to reunite families separated by political boundaries. Ida Nudel. the only woman dissident in exile in the Soviet Union is living proof of the callous disregard that that nation has for basic human rights and the terms of the Helsinki agreement. Since 1971 Ida Nudel has sought to emigrate to Israel to rejoin her family. In her personal struggle for freedom. she has unselfishly devoted her life to the plight of other victims of Soviet repression. Her courageous struggle to bring hope and renewed spirit to other dissidents and their families has earned her the title of "the Angel of Prisoners of Conscience." In June of last year. while protesting the imprisonment of a fellow activist and the Soviets refusal to grant her visa. she was arrested and accused of "malicious hooliganism." For the crime of unfurling a banner demanding that the "KGB Give Me a Visa." she was sentenced to 4 years of internal exile at a Siberian labor camp. Today she remains languishing in Siberia in poor spirits and deteriorating health. It is an unfitting end for a woman who has saved so many prisoners before her that she now finds herself alone and mistreated. House Concurrent Resolution 202 calls attention to the Soviet Unions failure to abide by the Helsinki accords. the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which "guarantee to all people the right to emigrate." In addition. it draws attention to the brave contributions and personal plight of Ida Nude]. Because of the "continuing harassment of political and religious activists and intellectuals in the Soviet Union and in some other countries in Eastern Europe." this legislation states that it is the sense of Congress that Ida Nudel should be released from exile and allowed to emigrate to Israel. Purthermore. it urges the President to inform the Soviets that our relations with other countries will be based in part on the extent to which those nations honor their commitments under international law with respect to the protection of human rights. Ida Nudel has become a symbol of repression that exists in Russia today.