Speaker. I rise to join my colleagues in this special order on the plight of Soviet Jewry. Recent action against Jewish refuseniks in the Soviet Union. such as: The arrest of four Hebrew teachers within the last 6 weeks. increased antiSemitic remarks by the Soviet news media. and the dramatic decline in the granting of emigration visas demonstrates that the Soviet Union has undertaken a major new campaign to eradicate Hebrew studies. This situation is of great concern to the citizens of the world. For when one individual is denied the right to freely emigrate to the land of his or her choosing. we all are imprisoned. For no one can be sure of their freedom as long as one individual is denied the right to live where they choose. The Soviets agreed to the right of free emigration when they became signatories to the Helsinki accords. Indeed in return for conformation of existing Eastern European borders. the Soviet Government agreed to a whole series of human rights when the Helsinki accords were signed. But to date. the Soviets have failed to live up to both the spirit and letter of the accords.
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emigrate emigration visas