Speech #980166538

Mr. Speaker. I am privileged to have the opportunity to join with many of my House colleagues today to draw special attention to the poignant plight of the thousands of Soviet Jews seeking to emigrate. Today. which has been designated by Jewish organizations around the world as International Day of Concern for Soviet Jews. is particularly significant because it marks the eighth anniversary of the forceful arrest and internment of the valiant and noble Soviet Jewish activist. Anatoly Shcharansky. We are all indebted to Mr. Shcharansky for his brave efforts to report on Soviet violations of the Helsinki accords on human rights on behalf of his Jewish countrymen. Shcharansky has suffered through 7 years of cruel and inhuman imprisonment because of his efforts to insure the basic rights of freedom of speech. religion. and emigration for the Jewish people in Russia. The year 1983 marks the worst year for Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union in 20 years. The Soviet Union allowed only 1.300 Jews to emigrate last year. the fourth consecutive year that this total has declined. The situation is particularly severe in Moscow. home to a quarter of the 1.8 million Jews in Russia. where according to the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. fewer than 50 visas were granted last year. The United States must make every effort to reverse this tragic decline. I hope. as do Jewish people around the world. that the advent of new leadership in the Kremlin. with the rise to power of Konstantin Chernenko. will mark the beginning of a propitious new phase in SovietAmerican relations characterized by marked improvements in the Soviet Jews freedom of speech. religion. and emigration. which we all so very much desire.*