Speech #970149570

I would certainly reciprocate the feelings expressed by the gentleman. Mr. Speaker. members of the Vashchenko family and the Chmykhalov family have been denied permission by the Soviet authorities to freely emigrate and have lived. since 1978. in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. As Pentecostals. they have been denied their right to practice their faith and have been subjected to imprisonment. beatings. confinement in mental institutions. and separation from family members. The Members of this House are not unfamiliar with the denial of religious freedom in the Soviet Union and know well the same problems faced by the Jewish community in that country. The fact that the Soviets deny religious freedom to these Pentecostals comes as no surprise but stands in stark contrast to their commitments to religious freedom and the right to emigrate under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. the Helsinki Final Act. the Charter of the U.N.. the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. and their own Constitution. The administration has assured us it has no objections to House Concurrent Resolution 100 which calls on the President to express to the Soviets our deep concern over freedom of religion and emigration for these two families and to permit them to stay at the U.S. embassy in Moscow until their emigration has been authorized. I want to commend our Foreign Service officers in Moscow for their efforts on behalf of these two families in spite of the very difficult circumstances within which they must work. We are deeply concerned at this point over the prospect that Soviet authorities may stall on the granting of a visa to Lidia Vashchenko who after her hunger strike returned to her hometown to apply for a visa. While I understand no final decision has yet been made by the Soviet authorities. I would urge my colleagues to give this resolution their unanimous support as an unmistakable signal to the Soviet Union of our hope and expectation of Soviet respect for their right to emigrate. Thank you. Mr.