Speech #990013270

Speaker. I am pleased to participate in this special order in conjunction with the third congressional fast and prayer vigil for Soviet Jewry. This event which unites all people of conscience in support of the human rights of Soviet Jewry comes at a particularly excruciating period for those concerned with the right of people to emigrate as specified in the Helsinki Final Act and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During the past year. the number of Jewish citizens of the Soviet Union permitted to emigrate has fallen below 900. Among those who have been denied the right to leave the Soviet Union are Mr. and Mrs. Leonid and Mira Zeliger. both engineers presently living in Leningrad. They first applied for emigration visas in 1977 seeking to exercise the human right of family reunification with their relatives in Israel. For daring to exercise this human right they have been prevented from pursuing their careers and have reportedly suffered religious persecution. Their continued applications for emigration visas have been repeatedly denied. My distinguished colleague. Congressman ToM LANTOS. has been championing the cause of the Zeligers and I am pleased to join him in bringing their case to the attention of my colleagues.