Speech #980005203

John Vashchenko was beaten. and returned to his Siberian home. The seven Pentecostals. after consultation with their families. decided to remain in the Embassy out of fear for their lives. All seven remained there until January 1982 when Lidiya Vashchenko had to be hospitalized as a result of a hunger strike to dramatize their request to emigrate. She has now returned to Siberia in accordance with the technical requirements of Soviet law to apply for the appropriate exit visas for herself and the Vashchenko and Chymkhalov families. Unfortunately. the Soviet Union has not lived up to their end of the bargain. she continues to wait for word from Soviet emigration officials. The need to give the Pentecostals legal status under U.S. law has been apparent since shortly after they arrived in the Embassy. To the Reagan administrations credit. the Pentecostals circumstances have improved in the Embassy in the last 2 years. yet the remaining six Pentecostals are deserving of the legal status that permanent residence offers them. So many of my colleagues have expressed an active interest in the plight of the Vashchenko and Chmykhalov families. In fact. the House passed House Concurrent Resolution 100 last year as a means of calling on our Government and the Government of the Soviet Union to find a humanitarian solution to the predicament the six Pentecostals find themselves in. in the basement of our Embassy. Hearings were held last December before the Subcommittee on Immigration. Refugees. and International Law during which all concerned parties. including the State Department. had the opportunity to testify. This legislation represents a broad consensus that some action is necessary on their behalf and attempts to take into account many of the concerns of the State Department. Senator CARL LEvIN has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Pentecostals and was instrumental in the passage of S. 312 by the Senate in the last Congress. It is my understanding that he will introduce legislation similar to the bill I am introducing today in the near future. Mr. Speaker. passage of this legislation will. unfortunately. not insure the emigration of these brave people from the Soviet Union. Only the Soviet authorities can permit them to leave. But this bill will remove what has been a major roadblock up to this point: It will grant legal guarantees from the United States that the Pentecostals residing in the basement of our Embassy will be given the treatment they deserve. and it will send a strong symbol to the Soviets that the U.S. Government takes very seriously the imposition of unreasonable obstinance in the granting of visas for these people. Granting of permanent resident status will provide the protection the Pentecostals need and let the Soviet Government know of our strong resolve. A sectionbysection analysis and text of the legislation follows: Section 1. Permanent resident visas shall be issued to Maria and Timofei Chmykhalov. and Lilia. Peter. Liubov. and Augustina Vashchenko upon payment of the required fees. The six Pentecostals would not become eligible for U.S. citizenship until they entered the United States. Section 2. Having entered the United States. the six Pentecostals would not be required to (1) have resided in United States for five years prior to eligibility for citizenship. or (2) to have met the continuous residence requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act.*