Speech #1000019856

I would like to commend my colleague from Maryland for her special order concerning the plight of Jews in the Soviet Union. Ever since Stalin tried to destroy the identity of Jews in the U.S.S.R. by dismantling the Jewish educational system. destroying Jewish communal and cultural institutions. and restricting Jewish religious practices. it has been clear that the road to freedom for Jews in the Soviet Union will be an especially arduous and difficult one. Of the thousands of Jews that wish to emigrate to Israel or to the West. only a small group are granted this basic request every year. From the day a Soviet Jew applies for emigration to the day of departure. months or years may pass. The long emigration process may be marked by constant harassment and conscious bureaucratic delays. especially for activists. To apply. one must submit a variety of documents to the local visa office. The critical one is a vyzov. or invitation from a relative in Israel. Since 1979. narrow rules determined that this invitation must be from "first degree" kin. virtually precluding hundreds of thousands of people from receiving the mandatory document to apply for an exit visa. Those persistent to apply for exist visas even after they have been denied permission on previous occasions are then labeled "refuseniks." Refuseniks and their families are subject to special harassment and great suffering. Among the forms employed are repeated questioning by the authorities. firing people and forcing them into menial jobs. expelling them from universities and professional institutions. and. in some cases. revoking their academic or professional credentials. For those Soviet Jews who wish to try and make changes within the U.S.S.R.. they confront many of the same obstacles as those who wish to leave.