Speech #970145192

Speaker. I appreciate this opportunity to join with Representative LENT and my other distinguished colleagues to express our concern and dismay about the plight of Ida Nudel as we commemorate March 2 as the World Day of Protest on her behalf. Ida Nudel was imprisoned for helping other Jewish prisoners of conscience to emigrate to Israel from the Soviet Union. Once again. through the example of Ida Nudel. we can see the persecution and suffering of the Jew who wishes to uphold his religion or emigrate to Israel. rights supposedly granted its citizens by signatories of the Helsinki accords. Ida Nudels refusal to accept official Soviet policies against religious freedom and emigration is an example of tremendous courage. For this. she has earned the affectionate title of "Guardian Angel for Soviet Prisoners of Conscience." Also for this. she has spent the last 4 years in Soviet jail in Siberia. I join with my colleagues in calling on the Soviet Union to allow an exit visa for Ida Nudel when she is released from prison on March 20 so that she can be reunited with her family. I also call on the Soviet Union to respect the rights of its people. We must work to remove the reasons for Ida Nudels imprisonment and banishment. while recognizing that the actions of Ida Nudel stand as a testimony to courage and conviction.*