Speech #970011015

Mr. President. recently the House of Representatives of the 35th Legislature of the State of Arizona passed a resolution urging the President of our country to influence the Soviet Union to abandon its restricted emigration policies and allow freer emigration of religious groups. This has been forwarded to me by our exceedingly fine Secretary of State. Rose Mofford. I ask that the resolution be printed in the RECORD. The resolution follows: HoUsE RESOLUrrION 2003 Whereas. the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which declares that "everyone shall be free to leave any country including his own". and Whereas. the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is a signatory of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. which declares that the "participating states will deal in a positive and humanitarian spirit with the applications of persons who wish to be reunited with members of their families". and Whereas. the Soviet Union initiated new restrictions on the emigration of Jewish persons residing in the Ukraine in May of 1979. by denying applications if the required letter of invitation from a family member in Israel was from a relative more distant than a parent. spouse. child or sibling. and Whereas. the new restrictions severely curtailed Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. with fewer exit visas being granted in 1980 than In 1979. and Whereas. the trend of decreasing Jewish emigration is growing dramatically in 1980. from 3.049 in March. to 2.469 in April. to 1.976 in May. to 1.620 in June. to 1.204 in July. and to only 327 for the first half of August. and Whereas. acts of antiSemitism. including harassment. arrests and discrimination in education and employment have increased in recent months. and Whereas. the combination of new emigration policies and increased harassment has directly affected the willingness of Jews residing in the Soviet Union to solicit letters of invitation from relatives in Israel. resulting in a decrease in requests for letters of invitation from an average of 10.750 per month in 1979 to 4.250 per month for the first four months of 1980. and Whereas. many emigration offices in the Soviet Union allegedly closed temporarily during the Summer Olympics have not yet reopened. Therefore. be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona: 1. That the members of the House of Representatives respectfully request that the President of the United States endeavor to influence the Soviet Union to abandon its Testrictive emigration policies and allow. the freer engration of all members of religious groups from the Soviet Union. 2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona is requested to transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States. the President of the United States Senate. the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States and to each Member of the Arizona Congressional Delegation.*