Speech #960186775

Unfortunately. the bad news is that toward the end of the year. the Soviets appeared to shift into reverse and we are beginning to hear of new repressions against Jews and other minorities. A year ago. conditions appeared to be improving for Soviet Jews. Exit visas were more available as the Soviets appeared to be making a bid for better relations with the United States. particularly in the area of trade. But. largely as a result of the Soviets poor human rights record. the trade concessions they sought failed to materialize. and apparently along with that. so did the hopes of many refuseniks. Now it appears the Soviet focus is shifting from trade to the Olympics. With the 1980 summer games still scheduled for Moscow. emigration has begun to decline. We already have received reports from the U.S.S.R. that serious obstacles are being put in the paths of potential emigres and a purge of sorts has begun in preparation for the games so that "undesireables"-according to Communist Party officials. that means "drunkards. psychotics. disorderly persons and Jews who have applied to emigrate"-will be removed from Moscow before the athletes. spectators. and world media arrive. Antisemitic propaganda. always present in the Soviet Union. is worseningamong the most notorious incidents is the placing on permanent display at the Minsk Central Gallery a painting depicting Jews eagerly helping the Nazis exterminate their own people. Furthermore. the Soviets have intensified their crackdown on Jewish and nonJewish critics of the regime. Today. the waiting period for an exit visa is from 8 months to 10 years. All too often. refuseniks are never told why their exit visas were denied. or how long they might have to wait to receive permission. Despite worldwide requests that Soviet emigration procedures be standardized and priority be given to longterm refuseniks. this has yet to materialize. It is important that pressure from Congress continue on the Soviets to honor their commitment to human rights made m signing the Helsinki accords in 1975. This international agreement guarantees the free emigration of persons with family members in other countries. On November 13. the House of Representatives approved a resolution calling upon the Soviet Union to release Ida Nudel. who is known as the guardian angel of Soviet Jewry from Siberian exile and to allow her to join her sister in Israel. Hopefully. our Housepassed resolution had some impact on the Soviets and on the life of at least one prisoner of conscience. I have been told by people who have left the Soviet Union that congressional resolutions and letters to Soviet officials from individual Members of Congress and other public officials do have positive effects. Congress must continue to try to exert influence over Soviet and other Communist countries emigration policies and their treatment of prisoners of conscience. For many individual refuseniks. congressional involvement has made a difference. The JacksonVanik amendment. which ties the granting of mostfavorednation (MFN) trading status to emigration policy. has been viewed as at least a limited success as emigration figures rise. Mostfavorednation legislation will once again be considered by the Congress shortly. Efforts to weaken JacksonVanik are in the works. such as the StevensonAuCoin bill. which would no longer explicitly link MFN to emigration and would lengthen the time between congressional review of eligibility from 1 to 5 years. I oppose any efforts to weaken JacksonVanik. In my view. MFN should not be granted to the Soviets if they continue to imprison innocent citizens for their simple desire to emigrate and continue to detain citizens through years of redtape. It is important for Congress to keep in mind the attitude and actions of the Soviet Union in the area of human rights as it considers MFN and other measures that affect United StatesSoviet relations.A