Speech #1000062311

Congressional Findings. The Congress(1) notes that the Department of State. in the publication Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1985. determined that "In the area of human rights. major discrepancies exist between generally accepted standards. for example as embodied in the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. and Romania practice.... The party. through the Government. continues to restrict and control the right to free speech. free assembly and association. and the practice of ones religion.". (2) is aware that overall emigration from Romania. and particularly Jewish emigration. has declined for the second consecutive year. (3) is aware of numerous accounts from the Department of State. Congressional delegations. and various human rights organizations. that Romanian citizens are being arbitrarily harassed. interrogated. and arrested by Romanian government authorities for the exercise of civil and religious liberties. (4) finds that official Romanian harassment of religious believers has not only been extended to the arrest of persons for carrying Bibles and other religious materials. but even carried to the point of destroying places of worship. including most recently the countrys largest Seventh Day Adventist Church and the Sephardic synagogue in Bucharest. (5) further finds that the United States trade deficit with Romania (which continues to be high) is a result of our extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (mostfavorednation treatment) to that country and can be construed as an endorsement of that nations abusive internal practices. (6) is aware of the severe limits placed on the rights of Hungarians and other ethnic minorities within Romania to express and maintain their cultural heritage. as is illustrated by the attempts made by the Romanian government to eliminate systematically Hungarian churches. schools. traditions. and even the Hungarian language from Romanian society. (7) recognizes and emphasizes the continued dedication of the United States to fundamental human rights (as noted in section 402 of the Trade Act of 1974) and is concerned with Romanias commitment to those rights. and (8) commends the President for withdrawing Romanias eligibility for dutyfree treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences because of Romanias violation of "internationally recognized worker rights".