Speech #1000135810

President. Rather I want to call attention to the other. much larger. delegation of Soviet citizens who did not make the trip with General Secretary Gorbachev. The Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry estimates that 385.000 Soviet Jews have expressed a desire to emigrate from the U.S.S.R. No one has an exact number of the number who have been refused exit visas. Israel lists some 11.000. others estimate the number of actual refuseniks at 30.000. Moreover. the number of Jews permitted to emigrate both in total numbers and in proportion to those of other ethnic groups and nationalities has dropped significantly since the peak year of 1979. The Soviets have permitted over 19.000 people to emigrate this year. Only a third of that number are Jews. In 1979. more than 67.000 emigrated from the U.S.S.R.. including 51.000 Jews. During an interview broadcast on United States television November 30. General Secretary Gorbachev said the Soviets "are in favor ... of the broad rights of the citizens." He supported the concept of family reunification. and said that only state security reasons blocked some from emigrating. Yet. in October 1985. General Secretary Gorbachev indicated in an interview for French television that the maximum period for refusals based on possession of state secrets was 10 years. In fact. more than 400 Jewish families in the Soviet Union have been waiting for permission to emigrate for longer than 10 years. some have waited for more than 15 years. Let me give just one example. Prof.