Representative Boa MRAZEK. for his organization of todays special order on divided families in the U.S.S.R. As it turns out. this is a very timely occasion for discussion of this issue. As you are all aware. the Soviet Union has. in the past 2 weeks. pledged emigration permission for 244 Soviet citizens. thereby resolving 65 divided family cases. All of these cases are on the State Departments representational list of divided families. one of four lists which are presented by United States diplomats to Soviet officials at every relevant opportunity. Assuming that all of these Individuals leave the Soviet Union in the near future. this representational list will be reduced by more than half. leaving only 61 unresolved cases. I am very pleased that the Gorbachev regime has decided to honor this aspect of its Helsinki Final Act commitment to allow free emigration for the purpose of family reunification. This gesture of good faith may help rejuvenate the process of improving United StatesSoviet relations that was begun by the November summit and will hopefully be advanced by another meeting in the near future. In our excitement over the expected release of these 244 persons. let us not forget the 61 families that remain on the State Departments list. These people have been waiting for many years just to see their loved ones. and at a minimum. are entitled to one of the most basic of human rights: The right of family reunification. I strongly urge the Soviet Government to take note of the international reaction to its decision to allow reunification. Granting of this permission to the remaining families would be a major step toward a smoother superpower relationship.
Keywords matched
family reunification emigration