Mr. Speaker. I rise today. as I have on many occasions in the past 2 years. on behalf of Vladimir and Carmella Raiz. prisoners of conscience in the Soviet Union whom I have adopted to call attention to their plight until their dream of emigration is realized. We in the Congress are conducting this vigil for the Ralz family. their son Moshe. and other Soviet Jews who are being detained in the U.S.S.R. as a result of their Governments repressive emigration policies. Vladimir and Carmella Raiz live in the Lithuanian town of Vilnius from which they have tried to emigrate since 1972. At that time. they were denied an exit visa by the local immigration officer. The OVIR official contended that Dr. Raiz. a molecular biologist employed at the Institute of Molecular Biology of the Soviet Acad. emy of Sciences. possessed secret scientific information. However. the institute subsequently conceded that the research was conducted more than 14 years earlier and is no longer secret. Upon applying for the visa. Dr. Raiz was fired from his job.
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emigrate emigration immigration visa