Speech #1000133838

As the late Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.. so eloquently stated: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The continued pleas of Soviet Jews and other religious minorities to be allowed to emigrate out of the Soviet Union. to reunite with family and loved ones. and to live in a nonoppressive society allowing them to worship and pray as they choose is today one of the great injustices on the face of the Earth. This is why so many of us committed ourselves to the cause of Soviet Jewry on the steps of the Capitol earlier today. along with the gentleman from New York [Mr. MRAZEKI. and this is why thousands upon thousands of interested Americans are traveling to Washington this weekend. to demonstrate outside of the White House and let Mr. Gorbachev know that we have not forgotten. Under the new wave of "glasnost." much publicity has been given to the new "openness" of the Kremlin regime. It is true that emigration figures for Soviet Jewry in 1987 has surpassed that for 1986. It is also true that most of the famous prisoners of conscience have been freed. But how much of glasnost is genuine openness. and how much is mere window dressing? The facts speak for themselves: Although we are grateful that Iosef Begun and Iosef Berenshtein and Ida Nudel and many of the other prisoners of conscience have been released and allowed to emigrate. what of the hundreds of thousands of others that we know have begun the process to apply for exit visas? Why have so many courageous men and women been arrested and tried on unfounded charges in the first place? Although we are grateful for their eventual release. why did the Soviets violate and continue to violate the Helsinki accords originally? Why does the interruption of international mail addressed to minorities and dissidents inside the Soviet Union continue? Why have the Soviets decreed that. as of this year. parcels sent into the U.S.S.R. must be required to have a customs declaration only in Russian or French language. despite the fact that English previously had been acceptable? Why did the Soviet Union recently implement new emigration restrictions. allowing only a firstdegree relative permission to emigrate? In the past. a cousin or a grandparent was sufficient. Mr. Speaker. I submit that glasnost will continue to have only a hollow ring in the ears of all American unless and until all the Soviet Jews who wish to emigrate are allowed to do so. Until that day arrives. Secretary Gorbachevs cry for openness will remain hollow. So far this year. 7.250 Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate. We all agree that this is certainly an improvement over the 1986 total of 914. But it does not compare with the 51.320 who emigrated in the peak year of 1979. Nor does it compare with the hundreds of thousands who are still awaiting word on their visa applications. Mr. Speaker. I hope the American people will rise with one voice in reminding Mikhail Gorbachev: "If you are sincere. then let those who wish to emigrate. to go freelyto the lands of their choice."