Mr. Speaker. over the past 2 years. emigration from the Soviet Union has decreased dramatically. I know that many of my colleagues share my concern over the decrease in numbers of Soviet Jews allowed to emigrate as well as the Soviet Governments total disregard for the basic human rights of those individuals who have applied to emigrate. Currently. there are 500.000 applications from Soviet citizens wishing to emigrate awaiting positive action by the Soviet Government. Unfortunately. in todays political climate. the outlook for these people is not positive. To make matters worse. the Soviets continue to harass. Jail and internally exile many individuals solely because they have filed applications for emigration. Valery Pllnikov and Dr. Viktor Brailovsky are two men among the many Soviet citizens who have chosen to exercise their right to emigrate and have met with the Soviet Governments fiercest resistance. I have sent the enclosed letter to Soviet President Brezhnev voicing my disappointment with the Soviet Gov. ernments refusal to allow its citizens to emigrate and its treatment of Dr. Brailovsky and Valery Pilnikov. I urge my colleagues to take similar actions in order to let the Soviets know that we are aware of their inhumane actions and that we are vitally concerned over the plight of Soviet citizens wishing to emigrate.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration