Speech #1020047416

Mr. President. it is because of this threatening atmosphere that we must persist in our efforts to get all Jews who wish to leave out of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately. the recent positive trends in emigration hide some disturbing realities. including an increasing number of new refusals and a law that leaves intact some of the very obstacles presently faced by those trying to emigrate. First. I do believe that passage of an emigration law last month was a good first step. For years. the United States has been pressing the Soviet Union to pass an emigration law. None of us have yet had the opportunity to fully evaluate the one that was finally passed. or to see how it will be implemented. But I have learned enough about it to have concerns about some of the laws significant passages. For example. we already know that much of this law will not go in effect until January 1993. We also know that although the law sets a time limit of 5 years during which someone can be denied permission to emigrate on the basis of possession of state secrets. there is another clause which permits this time to be extended indefinitely. Moreover. the law codifies the practice of denying permission on the basis of having poor relatives. in other words. adults will still be required to submit affidavits from parents and exspouses renouncing any financial obligation. And many of the various appeals processes described in the new law would be carried out through commissions and judiciary bodies which do not presently exist. Obviously. Mr. President. there is still a long way to go before the right of free emigration is truly e8tablished in Soviet law. Second. we cannot forget about the individual refuseniks who are still fighting for their freedom in the Soviet Union. Most of them have been denied permission to emigrate on the arbitrary basis of possessing state secrets or because they have been unable to obtain the necessary poor relative documentation. I would like to tell my colleagues about one such family. the Sorkins. that has suffered the consequences of this unjust policy. Roman and Svetlana Sorkin applied for permission to emigrate to Israel with their three young children in 1988 and were refused because of Romans former secret work. This refusal came despite the fact that Roman left this work in 1983 and signed an agreement not to leave the Soviet Union until 5 years had elapsed. On December 2. 1988. the Sorkins were told that they had permission to leave. They quit their jobs. gave up their flat and were ready to depart. when suddenly Roman was told that their exit visas had been annulled. He was told that because he was a bearer of Soviet state secrets. he and his family could not leave the country until 1995. Then. in 1990. the Sorkins refiled their applications for emigration. and received a shocking response: Svetlana and the children could emigrate. but not Roman. Svetlana was forced to make an impossible choice between keeping her family together in the U.S.S.R. and subjecting her children to the menace of antiSemitism. or tearing her family apart by taking the children to safety in Israel. Despite feelings of isolation. depression and indignation. the Sorkins have persevered. They have decided to remain together in the Soviet Union. and they are studying their cultural heritage and Hebrew in preparation for the day when they can emigrate as a family to Israel. They can only wait until the day Soviet authorities decide to treat them with humanity and permit them to emigrate together. Mr. President. the Sorkins story is tragic. but not unique. There are many refuseniks who are arbitrarily being denied the right to emigrate. and the number of new refusals is growing. That is why I ask my colleagues to join me and Senators LAUTENBERO and GRASSLEY in the Congressional Call to Conscience Vigil. By highlighting individual cases. we can let these Soviet Jews know that we in the Senate have not forgotten their plight.