Speaker. on the eve of the ReaganGorbachev summit. we must send a message to both President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev. That message is plain and simpleLet the Soviet Jews out. There must be a direct link between the future of SinoAmerican relations and the relaxation of Soviet immigration restrictions. In the present climate. with both the Soviets and our administration pushing for arms and trade agreements before the end of the Reagan Presidency. the pressures are great to accept less than proper human rights performance and less than acceptable numbers of emigration visas for Jews in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Government has admitted that at least 15 percent of Soviet Jews currently would seek to emigrate. Natan Shcharansky has estimated that some 400.000 Soviet Jews would leave if they could. As we continue to evaluate the promise of glasnost. the Kremlins treatment of Jews must serve as an indicator of its future policy toward the West. Not only must we work to pressure the Soviets to open the gates to Jewish emigration. we must pressure the Soviets to allow Jews who wish to stay in the Soviet Union to receive a fair chance for university admission. to provide unhindered opportunities to study their heritage. and to learn and speak Hebrew. All of us. black and white. Jew and gentile. must work together to help our brothers in the Soviet Union.
Keywords matched
emigrate immigration visas emigration