Speaker. I am pleased to join my colleagues in this special order on behalf of over 21/2 million Jews trapped within the borders of the Soviet Union. In the past few years. we have witnessed the renewal of blatant Soviet antiZionist and antiSemitic activities and a severe cutback in emigration to less than 1.000 in 1984. These people are unable to practice their religion. unable to perpetuate their heritage. indeed. unable even to emigrate from this land where to be a Jew is. in and of itself. construed by the authorities as criminal. More than 400.000 Soviet Jews are in v the process of seeking exit visas. More r than 20.000 have applied and been re- I fused. These refuseniks often lose b their Jobs. are subject to various forms 1 of harassment and some are subse- r quently arrested under charges of t "hooliganism" or "parasitism" and C sentenced to prison and labor camps. T It is one of these refuseniks. Iosif n Begun. on whom I have chosen to s focus my remarks today. Until 1971. 1 when he applied for an exit visa. Begun was a senior scientist at the Moscow Central Institute of Research In Economics. He was then dismissed from work and has been unable to find work in his field since that time.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas visa