Speech #980166488

The gentleman is a good advocate and a strong advocate in this House for the cause of human rights. What there is not mixed debate on. what there is not mixed debate on at all is that the plight of Soviet Jews has deteriorated dramatically and suddenly over the past year. Jewish emigration is at its lowest level since it began on a large scale in the 1970s. The numbers will tell the story. In 197273. 60.000 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union. while fewer than 1.400 received permission to emigrate last year. The fact of the matter is. that is why we are here today. Those of us in the West who already enjoy our liberties. we become the voice of the refuseniks in the Soviet Union. Jewish emigration is at the lowest level since it began on a large scale in the early 1970s. In 197273. 60.000 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union. while fewer than 1.400 received permission to emigrate last year. Furthermore. there was a marked increase in official and semiofficial antiSemitic propaganda last fall in the Soviet Union. This took the form of newspaper articles. broadcasts. and activities of the group calling itself the AntiZionist Committee of Soviet Citizens. Those of us in the West who already enjoy the liberties for which Soviet Jews are searching cannot afford to forget their plight. We are the only hope of oppressed Jews in the Soviet Union. If we do not care enough to maintain the pressure on the Soviet Government. to constantly remind Soviet leaders that Jewish emigration remains a major concern. then we are relegating Soviet Jews to a life of hopelessness in limbo. Refuseniks. Soviet Jews who have applied for permission to emigrate and have been denied. will continue to lose their jobs. their homes. and sometimes their families. Prisoners of Conscience will continue to be denied not only contact with the West. but with their families. Soviet Jews will continue to be forced to live in a country where they cannot exercise their religious and cultural rights. where to do so can be interpreted as treason. We cannot allow this to happen. We must listen to our conscience and our heritage. We must continue to act on behalf of Soviet Jews until everyone who desires to emigrate has been allowed to do so. I am hopeful that the recent change in leadership in the Soviet Union will also lead to a change of attitude toward Soviet Jews. I am hopeful that relations between the East and the West will improve. and that this will lead to more Jewish emigration. Until that occurs. we must not forget those who are depending on us for their hope and their lives.