Speech #990005054

It is sad that this is not the case in all countries. particularly in the Soviet Union. Behind the Iron Curtain. thousands of Jewish people are being kept prisoners. The Kremlin refuses to let thousands of Soviet Jews emigrate to freedom. In 1984. only 896 Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union. This is the lowest level of emigration from that country in the past two decades. In 1979. the Soviet Government allowed over 51.000 Jews to emigrate. Since that time. they have almost choked off any escape to freedom. The right to freedom of emigration is guaranteed under the Helsinki accords and other international agreements which the Soviets have signed. Yet the Soviet Union holds Jews hostage to the status of EastWest relations. The Soviet Government also has harassed and imprisoned many Hebrew teachers and Jewish cultural activists. Many Americans are concerned about the plight of Soviet Jews. For example. one congregation in North Carolina has written me to express their interest in this issue. The Judea Reform Congregation in the DurhamChapel Hill area recently adopted a Jewish family that wants to emigrate from the Soviet Union. Members of the congregation correspond with members of the Lev Bronshtein family in Leiningrad. They write to assure them that there are people in the free world who understand their desire to be free. The congregation also has written to Soviet officials on behalf of the Bronshtein family. In the next few days. I will join in this effort by writing to the Soviet Ambassador to the United States and ask that his Government allow the family to emigrate. The Bronshtein family applied for an exit visa in 1976. Their Government has refused to let them leave. despite the international agreements guaranteeing freedom of emigration. There are thousands of families like the Bronshteins who want to leave the misery of life in the Soviet Union. Im hopeful that our Government will remind the Kremlin of our concern for Soviet Jews and will push for increased Jewish emigration. The people of the free world should not sit Idly by while the Soviets violate international agreements and continue to abuse basic human rights. As a member of the Congressional Coalition for Soviet Jews.