Senate can regularly speak with one voice. with one position. But the need for the Soviet Union to clean up its dismal human rights performance is one such issue. The resolution we have overwhelmingly passed today is a clear statement that the United States is not fooled one bit by the recent emigration regulations decreed by the Kremlin. The world has waited for the Soviet Government to bring its emigration policy into line with its treaty commitments and recognized international standards of human rights. We are still waiting. The Kremlin knows that human rights are a part of United StatesSoviet relations that cannot be papered over or ignored. that cannot be swept under a rug with a few reasonablesounding pronouncements. To make sure that General Secretary Gorbachev gets the message. my distinguished colleague from New York. Senator MOYNIHAN. and I have authored a letter to the Soviet party leader reminding him that the new emigration code does not meet our expectations. and that improved United StatesSoviet relations remain dependent on mutual observance of basic human rights. I ask that a copy of this letter to Gorbachev. which we are now circulating for the signature of other Senators. be printed in the RECOtn at the end of my statement. The Soviet Union seems to think that a mediocre effort at public relations can substitute for real change in its persecution of religion and political dissent. I think the vote on this resolution should serve to relieve the Politburo of this illusion. We welcome the release of Yuri Orlov. of Natan Shcharansky. and others. But the emigration of 914 Jews and 1 famous political dissident. and the return to Moscow of Andrei Sakharov. are no more than a start. There are literally hundreds of thousands more Soviet citizens. Jews and others. who are waiting for their voice to be heard and their fundamental rights to be respected.
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emigration