Madam Chairman. I rise in support of H.R. 2022. legislation which grants presumptive refugee status to Soviet Jews. Evangelicals. and certain Indochinese. In 1988. the Attorney General changed U.S. policy concerning the admission of these groups to the United States. Before the policy change. applicants for refugee status were presumed to have a fear of persecution if forced to return to their country of origin. There is virtually no person in this country who is unaware of the fact that the Soviet Union. despite the very recent incremental improvements in that country. has been a nation in which Jews and others have suffered from harsh. intentional discrimination and persecution. None of us is naive enough to think that a few years of glasnost will erase decades of institutionalized antisemitism in the Soviet system. It is highly ironic that for more than 20 years. we have been struggling. both as individuals and as a Nation. to help secure the rights of Soviet Jews to emigrate. In the past year. the Soviet Union has opened the door to some of those wishing to leave. and now the United States starts drawing very fine distinctions. saying some who leave are persecuted and others are not. I am sure that there are many Soviet officials who have been scratching their heads in amazement.
Keywords matched
emigrate refugee