Yevgeny Grigorishin. and Tatiana Alexandrovich. people whose only crime has been to ask to live with their spouse. as was promised by the Soviet Union and 34 other signatories in signing the Helsinki Final Act in 1975. Mr. Speaker. article 11 of the Soviet fundamental legislation on marriage and the family statesthe Soviet Constitutionthat "each spouse is free to select his or her place of residence." And so each of the spouses that I mentioned has applied to emigrate to the United States. Each has been denied at least once. So much for article 11 of the Soviet fundamental legislation on marriage and the family. The Helsinki final act specifically states that. "in dealing with requests from couples from different participating States. once married. to enable them and the minor children of their marriage to transfer their permanent residence to a State in which either one is normally a resident. the participating States will also apply the provisions accepted for family reunification." So. Mr. Speaker. what does it say about a government that continues to spend so much time. energy. and manpower denying a husband and wife the right to live together as one? And what does it say about a government that allows some members of a family to emigrate and not others? It says that this government is still unwilling to live up to the commitments it made in Helsinki in 1975. Let us hope that through passage of this resolution that within the next few months.
Keywords matched
emigrate family reunification