Mr. Speaker. for the past few years I have participated in the Call to Conscience Vigil sponsored by the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews on behalf of the Soviet Jewish families seeking emigration from the Soviet Union. The vigil gives me a chance to express my deep concern for Jews being detained in the Soviet Union as a result of that Governments repressive emigration policies. I am pleased to report that the Viktor Pelakh family. which I spoke on behalf of in 1981. have since been allowed to emigrate to Israel and have rejoined family members near Haifa to start their new life there. This year I wish to speak on behalf of Benjamin and Bella Lifshitz. who have been requesting permission to emigrate from the Soviet Union for 11 years but have been continually denied exit visas by Soviet authorities. They are anxious to leave for Israel to join their only two daughters. both of whom live in Jerusalem. Mr. and Mrs. Lifshitz are a retired. elderly couple with many health problems whose desire is to reunite their family after years of separation. The Soviet authorities have continually denied exit visas for Mr. and Mrs. Lifshitz on the grounds that he had access to sensitive military information. It is true that Mr.
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emigrate emigration visas