Speech #980005216

I am introducing a resolution with my distinguished colleague from Connecticut. Mrs. BARBARA KENNELLY. to promote the cause of Soviet Jews and all others who seek to emigrate from the Soviet Union. For years. the United States has been on the frontlines in the battle for fundamental human rights. Now is no time to retreat. The number of Soviet Jews allowed to leave the Soviet Union has plummeted to its lowest level in over a decade. In 1979. 51.000 Soviet Jews left the U.S.S.R. Last year. less than 3.000 were granted exit visas. Unfortunately. the new Soviet regime shows no signs of reversing this disturbing trend. In fact. Soviet authorities appear to be intensifying efforts to close down the doors of emigration and blot out Jewish cultural activities. The breakup of Jewish cultural and scientific seminars. the confiscation of personal property. antiSemitic media campaigns and the harassment and arrest of Jewish activists are becoming all too frequent in the lives of thousands of Soviet Jews. What is even more galling is the Soviet Unions flagrant disregard for the Helsinki Final Act. in which it pledged to uphold certain basic human rightsamong them the right of cultural expression and emigration. The State Department has condemned the "Soviet reductions in emigration as clearly contradictory to the principles of freedom of movement and family reunification contained in the Helsinki final acts to which the U.S.S.R. is a signatory." Members on both sides of the aisle agree on the need to take action. With 60 cosponsors. our resolution states that the Soviet Union should comply with the Helsinki accords by pursuing a more humane emigration policy and urges the President to convey the concerns of Congress to Soviet officials. The deliberate mistreatment of so many Soviet Jews and citizens cannot be allowed to continue. Our protests represent their best hope for a better life.