I am grateful to my colleagues for taking out a special order on this important issue. In the past few years the plight of the Soviet Jews has worsened considerably. The Soviet authorities on the one hand have begun a campaign of harassment and intimidation and on the other hand have virtually halted emigration. Under the guise of "antiZionism" the Soviets have spread hateful antiSemitic propaganda. and have attempted to squelch any expression of Jewish identity. Teachers of Hebrew. for example. are singled out for persecution. Individuals who apply to emigrate find themselves out of work and subject to prosecution for "parasitism." The great hope of the refuseniksthat they will be able to live a full Jewish life in Israel or in the United Statessometimes seems to be fading away. because so few Jews have been able to obtain exit visas in the past few years. It is our duty here in the Congress to make sure that the refusenik community does not lose hope. Our protests to Soviet officials. and our expressions of solidarity to refusenik families. send a message c hope.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas