Speech #980062204

Mr. WIRTH. has done a tremendous job of focusing the attention of this Congress. and. through us. the attention of the American public. on the terrible conditions faced by Jews in the Soviet Union. For. despite Soviet claims to the contrary. thousands of Jewish citizens seeking to emigrate to Israel are being denied the right to rejoin their families. Hundreds of thousands of other Soviet Jews. who only want to live in their native land as Jews. are being denied the right to learn Hebrew or practice their religion. If there is one Soviet Jew who puts the lie to Soviet claims of tolerance toward its ethnic minorities. it is Ida Nudel. Imprisoned in Siberia for 4 years for the crime of seeking to emigrate. Miss Nudel is now living in a small Moldavian town. deprived of her profession as an economist. while health and hope fade away. I recently visited Miss Nudels sister in Israel and learned that Ida is as adamant in her desire to emigrate as she ever was in her 11 long years as a refusenik and Prisoner of Conscience. Soviet claims that Jews are happy and no longer want to leave the U.S.S.R.these claims are lies and propaganda. This Call to Conscience Vigil is a reminderto the Soviet Union and the worldthat the human rights of Soviet Jews. and all afflicted peoples. rank among our deepest concerns.e