Speech #960186542

Anatoly Shcharansky turned 32 years old. The day passed with no fanfare and no celebration. For Anatoly Shcharansky and thousands of others like him who have been imprisoned or persecuted simply because of their desire to emigrate. there is little to celebrate. There have been some encouraging signs such as the large increase this past year in the number of people who have been allowed to emigrate from the Soviet Union. We would be negligent not to be thankful for that increase. Yet. at the same time we must remember that much of the credit for that increase must go to the brave men and women such as Anatoly Shcharansky who have sacrificed so dearly in the struggle for the right to emigrate. For that reason people like Anatoly Shcharansky deserve the strongest efforts that we can put forth to help them obtain their freedom. These are tense and uncertain times when the Soviet Union feels able to flaunt their injustices through such contemptible actions as the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.