Speech #970161384

House Concurrent Resolution 218. expressing the sense of Congress with respect to the treatment by the Government of the Soviet Union of Mart Niklus. as amended. House Joint Resolution 230. imploring the U.S.S.R. to allow Dr. Semyon Gluzman and family to emigrate to Israel. and House Resolution 269. calling upon the U.S.S.R. to permit the emigration of Yuli Kosharovsky and his immediate family to Israel. as amended. The five resolutions now before us present further examples of the Soviet Unions violations of human rights of its citizens. Four of the measures highlight the cases of specific individuals confronted by particularly egregious violations of their fundamental rights. The other resolution addresses the abridgement of the rights of the Ukrainian people by the Soviets and urges recognition of a special day honoring that group. The first of the resolutions (House Resolution 200) details the plight of Benedict Scott. an Americanborn person. who as a child emigrated with his parents to Lithuania. before that land was illegally annexed by the Soviet Union. Scott. a highly respected scientist. is presently incarcerated in a Soviet prison camp for dissident activities supporting Lithuanian national and religious groups. In a 1979 letter to President Carter. Benedict Scott wrote that he considers himself to be a U.S. citizen. and that he remains committed to human rights principles. House Resolution 200. urges the Soviet Union to release Scott and enable him and his family to emigrate. The next resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 205) concerns the human rights violations of Ukrainian citizens who are continually persecutcd and imprisoned by the Soviets. The resolutions calls for the release of the incarcerated Ukrainians and calls for proclaiming November 9. 1982. as a day to honor the sixth anniversary of the establishment of the Ukrainian public group to promote the implementation of the Helsinki accords. Third is House Concurrent Resolution 218. regarding the situation of Mart Niklus. renowned biologist. zoologist. and language teacher barred from professional activities. because of his efforts to champion the cause of the Baltic nations. The Baltic human rights has endured abusive treatment by the Soviets for 22 years. Niklus has been denied permission to emigrate to Sweden. and is currently languishing in a Soviet labor camp. in need of medical attention. The focus of House Joint Resolution 230 is on Dr. Semyon Gluzman. a prominent psychiatrist who refused to bend to KGB pressures to certify human rights proponents as mentally ill. Dr. Gluzman who is now serving a prison sentence. would like to join relatives in Israel. with his family. The final resolution (House Resolution 269) deals with the case of Yuli Kosharovsky. an electronics engineer fired from his job because of an expressed desire to emigrate to Israel. Subsequently. Kosharovsky began conducting Hebrew classes for other similarly unemployed electronics engineers. and has now been threatened by the KGB for these activities. The resolution urges that he too be released and that he and his family be permitted to emigrate to Israel. Three of the resolutionsHouse Concurrent Resolution 205. House Concurrent Resolution 218. and House Resolution 269have technical amendments which were approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee when it agreed unanimously to report the five resolutions. on April 1.