Speech #970197223

Mr. Speaker. in the United States. religious freedom is accepted as a way of life but in the Soviet Union. religious freedom is a constant struggle. I returned home from my trip with a deeper commitment to human rights in general and a deeper commitment for securing the human right to emigrate from the Soviet Union. I have come home with a greater appreciation of our own fundamental freedoms and liberties. As a nation of immigrants. I am proud that the United States is the leader in promoting global emigration rights and in providing basic human freedoms. Mr. Speaker. today emigration remains restricted for all citizens of the Soviet Union. Soviet authorities speak of the reunification of families. usually meaning families torn apart by World War II and the postwar period. thus effectively avoiding the term "emigration". By using the grounds that they seek to be united with their relatives. usually in Israel. some Jews have been permitted to emigrate since the late 1960s. Unfortunately. this represents only a small fraction of the number of Jews who have the desire and the dream of finding religious freedom in their lifetime. Mr. Speaker. several reasons are cited as to why Soviet Jews want to emigrate. including the need for religious freedom. to escape the growing discrimination and antiSemitism that they face in the Soviet Union. or the need to go to Israel to work as Jews to strengthen the state. Yet. for hundreds of thousands of Jews. the decision to apply for exit visas is not an easy one. Many Jews wait as long as a decade or longer before they are granted permission to emigrate. Almost all of them lose their Jobs. leaving them without any visible means to support themselves or their families. They are almost always the constant target of harassment by their community. by the KGB. and by other Soviet officials. In addition to the legal requirement that Soviet Jews be invited to emigrate to Israel by a close relative living in that country. the Soviet authorities have made their own government bureaucracy increasingly difficult to deal with. They monitor the mail. and confiscate or delay the delivery of such invitations. They place numerous restrictions on the issue of visa applications which make the entire process increasingly difficult. The Government will not accept applications in cases where part of the family does not wish to emigrate. or cannot. This. Mr. Speaker. is a catch22 situation. In the Soviet Union. families are large. and an immediate family can constitute three complete generations. if the Soviet Government refuses emigration for one family member. the chances for the remainder of the family to leave may be nil. Mr. Speaker. allow me to point out that such persecution of Jews in the Soviet Union is in direct violation of the commitments to freedom of thought. conscience. expression or religion. and emigration made by the Soviet Union through its adoption of and/or participation as a signatory to the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe at Helsinki. the United Nations Charter. and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Additionally. such persecution is in violation of the Soviets own Constitution. The ban on the study and teaching of Hebrew. a basic and fundamental desire of many Soviet Jews. completely lacks iegality.