What is it? It is the number 896. Last year. the Soviet Union allowed only 896 Jews to immigrate to Israel. Only 896 of the estimated 400.000 Soviet Jews who have requested to leave. Only 896 were granted the privilege to leave the Soviet Union. And I use that world "privilege" very liberally. For it should not be a privilege but a right for Soviet Jews to immigrate to a country which wholeheartedly welcomes them. Israel. The number of Soviet Jews to emigrate this year is the lowest since 1970. This is quite a change from 1979 when over 51.000 Jews left the Soviet Union for the religious freedom that they enjoy in Israel. As the numbers of Soviet Jews permitted to leave has dropped dramatically. the persecution of those who stay has risen just as dramatically. Informed reports from within the Soviet Union tell us stories of arrests without charges. detentions without the basic amenities of life. and convictions for crimes never committed. Such is repugnant to human decency and we must do all that we can to put an end to it. I hope that in 1985 we will see both a stop to the unfair treatment of Jews within the Soviet Union as well as heretofore unsurpassed numbers of Jews allowed to emigrate. Is this too much to hope for? Perhaps. but as we embark upon this 99th Congress.
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