Speaker. the plight of Soviet Jewry is an issue which we in Congress address dozens of times a year. Im sure at one time or another. all of us question whether our pleas have an effect. or whether the Soviet leaders file our letters in the Kremlin circular file. But I would contend that even if our letters are thrown away. and the emigration rate continues to decline. we do have an impact. and we must never relent in our efforts to gain freedom of expression and religion for Soviet Jews. Perhaps the most important impact is on the refuseniks. the prisoners of conscience. and their families in the Soviet Union. In the long night of Soviet repression. they know that those of us privileged to live in the light of freedom have not forgotten them. and will not forget them. The decade of the 1970s was testimony to the effect that U.S. pressure can be put on the Kremlin leaders. We expressed our concern loudly and clearly. offered the Soviet increased trade in exchange for a more enlightened policy. and the Soviets responded by allowing more than a quarter million Jews to emigrate from that country. It is more difficult now. The state of relations between our nations has reached an unparalleled low in recnt years.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration