Speech #1010116605

Bucharest was the darkest and coldest capital city in Europe. This further erosion of the standard of living added to the growing public unrest which had been fueled by the repressive social measures instituted by the Ceausescu regime. Long known for its human rights violations. the Ceausescu regime received increasing attention for its repression of religious liberties. freedom of speech. free emigration and other such deplorable acts against the human spirit and body. The extension of MFN has proven to be an effective tool for social reforms within Romania. The granting of MFN status to Romania was conditioned upon its compliance with provisions of the 1974 Trade Act. known as the JacksonVanik amendment. These provisions. entitled "Freedom of Emigration in EastWest Trade." which principally make nonmarket economy countries ineligible for nondiscriminatory tariff treatment upon a determination that "such country denies its citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate." Because of Its economic importance to Romania. the potential for loss of MFN status due to a failure to comply with JacksonVanik had proven an important bargaining tool in United States dealings with Romania on its emigration and other human rights policies. Under this MFN leverage there had been a distinct improvement in Romanian emigration performance. The 1974 JacksonVanik amendment links extension of MFN with performance in the area of freedom of emigration. As a matter of fact. the leverage afforded by annual review has been effective in producing a rate of emigration from Romania comparable to that of all the other Warsaw Pact countries combined. excluding East Germany. The average emigration rate from Romania to the United States. Israel. and West Germany nearly tripled in the decade following the extension of MFN. including a sevenfold increase in emigration to the United States. Over 154.000 Romaniansroughly 1 in 160 of the countrys current populationhave departed the country legally since MFN was granted. Moreover. under MFN leverage. procedures for emigration have been eased and some of the hardships encountered by individuals applying for immigration. such as harassment by the secret police. loss of employment. loss of housing. and the denial of access to social services had been alleviated. Annual MFN review had helped the United States highlight individual human rights cases. and in some instances resolved them in a positive manner. However these instances were few and slow in being completed.