For 6Y2 years. the much publicized case of Anatoly Shcharansky has personified the injustices suffered by Soviet Jews seeking a chance to leave and practice their faith in peace. Protesting the unduly harsh treatment and censure of Soviet Jews has become a national commitment in the United States. The President made Soviet Jewry a major topic of concern at the Helsinki talks in Madrid. many of my colleagues and I in Congress have "adopted" individuals applying to emigrate in an attempt to bring focused pressure on the Soviet Government to allow these people to join their families in Israel and other parts of the world. and citizens and groups all over the country have decried the continued imprisonment of many Soviet Jews who had the courage to stand up for freedom. But words of protest are not enoughrelief of this international disgrace should be a condition we raise in every Soviet negotiation and contract. We must not let our commitment to these efforts flag. At a time when our political and military relationship with the Soviet Union is tense and unyielding. we should redouble our efforts to seek a show of good faith from President Andropov that the Soviet Union takes seriously its signed commitment to human rights. We should demand a retraction of the Soviet Governments support of the recently formed anti Zionist committee. a blatantly anti Semitic organization. And we must demand a reasonable accounting of the plummet in Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. We will not accept the ridiculous claims that all those who wished to leave have gone. There are well over 3.000 people waiting for approval. according to the New York Conference on Soviet Jewry. and our actions must not stop until those applications are accounted for. Concentrated public pressure has had positive effects in the past. but we must not be satisfied with the release of a token few. I join my colleagues today in calling for a reversal of the tide in Soviet Jewish emigration. and a commitment from Mr. Andropov to put an end to his countrys indefensible denial of religious freedom.*
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emigrate emigration