Speaker. I am pleased to inform my colleagues that Representative CHRIS SMITH and I have organized the 97th Congressional Class for Soviet Jewry. This newly formed group. consisting of 43 freshmen Members. was established to dramatize the plight of prisoners of conscience and long term refuseniks who are seeking to emigrate from the Soviet Union. Despite the fact that the Soviet Union is a signatory of the Helsinki Accords. :t has not adhered to the intent or the spirit of this document. This is evident in the fact that Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union dropped from over 51.000 in 1979 to 9.448 in 1981. Working in conjunction with the National Conference for Soviet Jewry. we have targeted those refuseniks who have been waiting visas for more than 6 years. Each Member has adopted. if you will. a refusenik and will be writing to the proper authorities in the United States and the Soviet Union on their behalf. For the next month Members of the 97th Congressional Class will be making floor statements about the refuseniks they have adopted.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas