Speech #1020050657

Speaker. I take to the well today to bring attention to an injustice that Is occurring In the Soviet Union. This Injustice being the Soviet Govemments refusal to allow freedom of emigration for its Jewish citizens. Soviet Jews are Increasingly receiving consent to emigrate outside of the U.S.S.R. but. more often than not those allowed to leave are only released to please Western countries who have rallied to their sides. It appears the Soviet Government has made progress in trying to democratize its country. and I believe that they have made a genuine attempt at reaching their democratic goals. In light of this new democratic vision. Soviet Jewish emigration needs to be reevaluated. The very existence of refuseniks. and the continued practice of arbitrary refusals prove that there Is still a considerable amount of progress that needs to be made before there is free. uninhibited emigration out of the U.S.S.R. Traditionally. guidelines for emigrating from the Soviet Union have been very strict. In the past. emigration out of the U.S.S.R. was allowed only in cases of family reunification and even then. there were no guarantees. Since the 1970s. the Soviet Government has turned down emigration requests of many Jewish citizens because they allegedly possessed state secrets. This label not only bars emigration. it also bars other family members from emigration or travel outside the U.S.S.R. Although international standards dictate that a person cannot be accused of possessing a state secret if they have been away from their jobs for over 5 years. Soviet officials continually Ignore this guideline. This is clearly an unjust and dictatorial policy. In recent years. the restrictions on emigration and travel have eased considerably on the Federal level. as reforms have made their way into the system. Unfortunately. some state and local officials still have the power to thwart emigration and In many cases they are now setting up road blocks and making it very difficult for Jewish citizens to obtain permission to emigrate. If a prospective emigrant does manage to get clearance from local and Federal officials there is yet another obstacle to get around. If a family member. who is remaining in the U.S.S.R.. objects to the request. that is considered sufficient grounds for refusal. This system gives a relative. who may not know or like