President Reagan has long stated that alleviating the deplorable situation of Jews in the Soviet Union is a priority of his administration in their dealings with the Russians. Here is his chance to prove it. What better gift could we give the millions of Soviet Jews at this new year than to seek an end to the curtailment of Soviet Jewish emigration? We have documentation of thousands of individuals and families that have made at least the first step toward securing permission to emigrate. Mr. Gromyko must not be allowed merely to reassert that all those wishing to leave have gone. President Reagan should be armed with a list of some of these families when he meets with the foreign minister. and he should demand to know why at the end of this August. only 652 Soviet Jews had been allowed to leave. At that rate. fewer than 1.000 people will emigrate in 1984. onefiftieth the number from just 5 years ago. The leaders of the Soviet Union have accused the United States of intransigence on issues to which we have formally agreed to act. such as arms control. Now they have an opportunity to prove their own willingness to act upon signed commitments to basic human rights. The Helsinki Final Act guarantees individuals the right to emigrate in order to practice their religion freely. The Soviet Union has not upheld this right for Jews. Indeed. it has imprisoned those who spoke out for their freedom. condoned the distribution of antiSemitic propaganda and disrupted Jewish education. If our countries are to pursue contructive dialog. there must be good faith on both sides: The Soviet Union could start tomorrow by releasing Soviet Jews imprisoned for their beliefs and granting emigration to the many thousands who have waited so long. I join my colleagues today in calling on President Reagan to convey to Mr. Gromyko our outrage at the treatment of Soviet Jews and our desire for an end to this appalling state of affairs.
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emigrate emigration