Speech #970142933

I have recently joined with many of my colleagues in sending a letter to Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin urging that permission be given to allow Ida to be reunited with her family in Israel. We in Congress must continue our call for Idas release. And we must intensify our efforts to reopen the gates to Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. As the 1981 Jewish emigration figure of 9.447 reveals. last year had the lowest rate of departure from the U.S.S.R. since 1971. I call on my colleagues to work toward reopening the emigration for Soviet Jews and others who wish to be reunited with family in other parts of the world. and to protest the resurgence of antiSemitic practices by the Government of the Soviet Union.*