Speech #990187208

Our happiness over Shcharanskys release is marred by the fate of his thousands of brothers and sisters in the Soviet Union who are not free to leave. who are not free to practice their religion. and who are not free from the antiSemitic diatribes of the Soviet controlled press and media. We are also alarmed and disturbed by the continued arrests and imprisonments of Jewish activists in the Soviet Union. The latest figures on Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union are just as disturbing. In April of 1986. 72 Jews were permitted to leave the Soviet Union. In all of 1986 to date. only 272 Jewish people emigrated from the Soviet Union. At that rate. less than 1.000 will get out this year. while thousands eagerly await the necessary exit visas. For those who have tried to leave. unsuccessfully. life becomes harder and harder. Soviet Jewish prisoners of conscience are increasingly becoming victims of physical brutality perpetrated in labor camps while awaiting trial. The instances of injury are confined to and the result of outright physical brutality and do not address other pervasive and mental punishments used to torment prisoners of conscience. including pressure to admit guilt. extensive confinement in silence. deprivation of food. exercise. and communication with family members. and a myriad of other pressures. all used in an effort to break the spirit of the prisoners of conscience. For these reasons. I and my congressional colleagues must never let up in our efforts to free the Jews of Russia who wish to emigrate. and to ensure for those who wish to remain in their native land the right to practice freely the religion and heritage of their ancestors. The 20th century has witnessed the destruction of European Jewry during the Second World War. We dare not allow another great Jewish culture and civilization suffer a similar fate due to apathy and silence on the part of the free world.