Speech #980084792

To do otherwise with the Communist nations of the world is to cheapen the meaning of friend and ally and bring both free and oppressed nations up to the same level. Section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974. the JacksonVanik amendment. prohibits the guaranteeing of "MFN" treatment. Government or investment guarantees. or the negotiation of a commercial agreement with any Communist country that does not allow its citizens the freedom to emigrate. This section also permits the President to waive this prohibition. for a period of 1 year. if he determines that doing so will further promote the freedom of emigration. When "MFN" status was first granted to Romania. it was perceived to be a reward for a marginal improvement in its emigration policies toward Jews and other minorities. Each year the executive branch has elected to waive the requirements of section 402. generally with only limited review of Romanian human rights policies. However. the current administration put Romania on notice in 1982 that continued "MFN" status was very much in doubt. Earlier this year. the White House announced that it would not waive section 402 in response to an educational payment decree instituted by the Romanian Government. This law is a selectively applied education tax which extorted money from Romanians who had applied for exit visas. To underscore the importance which Communist nations place on having "MFN" status with the United States. the Romanian President. Nicolai Ceausescu. upon learning of the potential cancellation of this status by President Reagan. immediately gave assurances to the White House that Romania would not require reimbursement to the state of education costs as a precondition to emigration. He also assured us that Romania would not create economic or procedural barriers to emigration. Unfortunately. the White House has relented and agreed to waive section 402 restrictions again this year. I am appalled that we are so gullible as to believe that this government in Romania will keep its promises when in the past they have responded with only shortterm improvements in their policies on emigration. This history of our relations with this nation are rife with examples of the perfidy and insincerity on the issue of human rights. Just a quick glance at their record should more than convince us to reconsider extending this trading privilege. Several years ago. in response to increased applications to emigrate. the Romanian Government instituted a preclearance procedure which meant that potential emigrants had to have local police clearance before they could even apply for a formal application from the central government. Needless to say. this complicated the process to the degree that emigration was slowed to a trickle. However. as soon as pressure was applied from the Congress and the White House the preclearance procedure was dropped for fear of jeopardizing their "MFN" status with the United States. We relented and granted "MFN" to them and they responded in good faith with the previously mentioned education tax.