Speech #990194279

It just is unfathomable that a husband and wife. a father and daughter would be denied a life together for so very long. I met and spoke with Galina in the Soviet Union last yearshe is an attractive. courageous ladybut fast losing faith. The Michelsons long to throw off the distinction of being the longest standing unresolved family reunification case between the United States and the U.S.S.R. and to begin such a life together. Since 1958. Anatoly has gone through the laborious procedures required by the Soviet Union to invite his wife and daughter to emigrate. In Moscow. Galina. who is now 65 and legally blind. Olga. Olgas husband and her son. submit emigration documents twice a year. Thus far. all their efforts have been in vain. For the sake of the Michelsons and so many other families. I call on the Soviet Union to adopt a policy of free emigration for those who wish to join their families outside the U.S.S.R. Such an act would be consistent with the commitments they made as signatories of the Helsinki Final Act and would demonstrate that there is common ground on which to build a more positive relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. As we look forward to a second summit between our two countries. it is vital that the issue of divided families be on the agenda.