Speech #970031573

I am extremely distressed by reports I have recently reviewed which seem to indicate that the Soviets. instead of making progress in the area of human rights. are moving in the opposite direction. Specifically. I refer to the share decline in Jewish emigration from over 50.000 in 1979 to 21.000 in 1980. With the exception of February. which preceded the 26th Soviet Communist Party Congress. monthly levels of emigration have continued at a low level. I must admit that I am generally alarmed over current trends. trends that scarcely generate a sanguine perspective about the preservation of Jewish identity in the Soviet Union over the next decades. let alone the perpetuation of even a remnant of Jewish culture. I direct my remarks to the forced assimilation of Jewry. an objective of the Kremlin since 1948.