I am a cosponsor of legislationHouse Concurrent Resolution 34which criticizes continued Soviet violation of its international human rights obligations. especially the right to errigrate. This measure passed the House March 31. 1987 by a unanimous vote of those present. Members of Congress have sent hundreds of different appeals to General Secretary Gorbachev on behalf of individual Soviet citizens seeking to emigrate. These Individuals were often separated from family members or in desperate need of medical care in the West. While the impact of these letters is not always clear. on occasion we are fortunate to see results. Last year I sent a letter to Soviet leaders. cosigned by 35 of my colleagues. requesting that Soviet citizens Evgeny and Galina Kluzhner be allowed to emigrate. We expressed our concern that their emigration application had been met with reprisals against them. Only a few months later. the Kluzhners received permission to emigrate to Israel. Whether our letter was instrumental in gaining this approval we will never know. However. we do know that letters such as these are a source of inspiration to Soviet Jews and they may. in fact. persuade Soviet officials to consider cases they might otherwise ignore.
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emigrate emigration