Speech #990182533

Tallitprayer shawl. records and cassettes of Jewish songs. letters from abroad. two mezuzot. Hebrew books. dictionaries. and Sabbath candles. In 1984. the regular exit visa refusal of Natasha Khassin was changed to a final refusal. In March 1986. KGB officials visited Gennady Khassin at his workplace and suggested that Natasha publicly admit her crimes against the Soviet Union. The officials said that if she agreed to this. the family would receive exit visas. but if she refused. the Khassin family would not be allowed to leave Russia until the year With emigration at an abyss. and with Soviet authorities accelerating their harassment of Jewish activists. congressional statements are extremely essential to the moral and cultural survival of the Jewish minority trapped within the Soviet Union. We must emphasize to the Soviets at every opportunity that we consider the issue of human rightsincluding the emigration of Soviet Jewsof great importance in evaluating our overall relations with them. It is critical that each of us in our own way lets the citizens of the Soviet Union know that we care and that we have not abandoned. and will never abandon. their cause. We must continuously denounce the forced surrender of basic human rights to the arbitrary will of a repressive government. It is crucial that we do not lessen our efforts on their behalf. even if other momentous events temporarily overshadow the suffering of Soviet Jewry. Let us band together to voice congressional concern about those who have repeatedly been denied the right to practice their religion freely and the right to emigrate. Unfortunately. there are thousands of refuseniks like Natasha and Gennady Khassin who so desperately yearn for freedom. The political and social pressure of the free world have in many cases stopped the tyranny of Soviet authority. It is up to us to see that the pressure continues. And perhaps next year. Soviet Jews who wish to emigrate shall celebrate the Passover Seder in Israel.*