Speech #1000133872

I would like to thank the sponsors of this special order for providing a forum for congressional attention to the plight of Soviet Jews. While I was unable to attend todays Fast and Prayer Vigil for Soviet Jewry. I would like to offer my own words of support for the thousands of Soviet Jews who desire to emigrate from a nation that refuses to fully recognize not only their religious beliefs. but also their very way of life. With the arrival of General Secretary Gorbachev in Washington next week. the issue of Soviet Jewry must not go unnoticed. Although the synagogue is a legally and officially acknowledged institution in the Soviet Union. there are in fact only 91 official synagogues. some of which exist only on paper.