Mr. Speaker. I would like to take this opportunity to call to the attention of my colleagues the plight of Grigory Goldshtein. a former Soviet prisoner of conscience who is still being denied the right to emigrate to Israel by the Soviet Union. This week. as Jewish people all over the world commemorate Rosh Hashanah. the Jewish New Year. we must remember there are Jewish men and women in the Soviet Union who are unable to freely express their feelings as Jews. Grigory Goldshtein is one such person. though his story is not a unique one. Grigory was sentenced in the spring of 1978 by Soviet authorities to 1 year of hard labor in Siberia. He had been tried and convicted on the. charge of parasitism which stemmed. from his application for an exit visa in December of 1971. After his brutal sentence was served. the Soviet Union denied him the right to emigrate to Israel. along with his brother Isai and sisterinlaw. This was in complete reversal of the Soviet Unions policy of granting an exit visa to a prisoner of conscience upon completion of the prison term. What this means is that Grigory is still unable to find a job because of his application for a visa. and could conceivably be found a parasite again. still a prisoner in a nation which does not want him. yet refuses to let him free. Of course. there is no greater tragedy than to be denied freedom of choice. whether it be to practice ones religion. to read a choice of books and literature. or to live in a nation that treats you with dignity. One of the reasons I bring this case to the attention of the House is because it is one of countless hundreds in Russia.
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emigrate visa