Speech #990072771

I am pleased to join in the Congressional Call to Conscience. in speaking out for religious freedom and basic human rights for Jews living within the Soviet Union. In just 1 week. on August 1. the world will observe the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki accords. an act which calls for universal adherence to a widely accepted code of fundamental human rights. and which requires that states afford national minorities "a full opportunity for the actual enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedom." The Soviet Union. altho ugh a major signatory of the Helsinki accords. has come to symbolize the very antithesis of the accordsit has become the land of the gulag for its Jewish minority. Over the last 5 years. the number of exit visas granted Soviet Jews has plummeted from a peak of 51.300 in 1979 to 896 in 1984. Arrests and trials of Jewish activists and refuseniks have increased dramatically. And what are their crimes? They have sought to practice their religious beliefs. they have sought to maintain their Jewish identity. they have sought to emigrate. They have done nothing more than seek to preserve their human rights. President Reagans meeti-. with Soviet Leader Mikhail GorbaC. .v this November offers a new opportunity for our Nation to speak out against the continuing repression of Soviet Jews.