Mr. Speaker. in the past. I have been a critic of granting Romania mostlavorednation [MFNj status because of the Romania Governments blatant disregard of basic human rights and its refusal to allow its prople to freely emigrate. Today. I join my colleagues In protesting the Romanian Governments continued poor record on human rights. particularly its inhumane treatment of the national minorities in Romania. On June 10. the Subcommittee on Trade held hearings on this very topic. which provided me an opportunity to examine. once again. the human rights situation in Romania and its relationship to the United States renewing MFN treatment for Romania. The result of these hearings was to confirm my fears that there has not been significant change in Romania to justify renewal of this countrys MFN status. Indeed. emigration from Romania has not increased substantially and individuals desiring to emigrate continue to experience undue hardship. discrimination and are. in effect. ostracized by their government. In addition to emigration. the governments lack of respect for the religious freedom of its citizens was highlighted by stories of churches being destroyed and of toilet paper being made out of Protestant bibles. Unfortunately. during the hearings little emphasis was placed upon the persecution of the national minorities in Romania. an Issue which Is known to us through the efforts of several American Hungarian organizations. but particularly through the American Hungarian Federation. represented by Dr. Michael Szaz. who has been in touch with me on this problem for many years.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration