Mr. Speaker. In 1975. the Soviet Union signed the Helsinki accords pledging free emigration for its citizens. How far they have gone back on that pledge is demonstrated by the mounting list of Soviet Jews. and members of other religious groups. who have been refused exit visas from the U.S.S.R. One such case is that of Isaak Abramovic Tsitverblit. a 61yearold electronics engineer who applied for a visa to Israel in 1970. He was refused in 1974 and again in 1979. allegedly on grounds that his previous work was classified. Since then. he has performed no professional work and has only been able to find work as a mechanic. His phone was disconnected. His son was beaten at school. Isaak went on a hunger strike to protest the governments inaction on his visa application for several years and is in failing health. His wife suffers from an acute form of diabetes. Yet still the Soviets refuse to let this man and his family go. Why? Because they would rather have him perish than permit him to emigrate and tell the world what the Soviet police state is really like. I bring his name to the House floor today so that hopefully some word will filter back to him that the free world has not forgotten. And to call attention to the endless Soviet violations of the Helsinki accordswhich I believe they never meant to honor in the first place.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas visa