Mr. President. yesterday. the distinguished chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee. spoke against the Lautenberg amendment which assists refugees from the former Soviet Union and which is reauthorized under the House version of the State Department reauthorization bill. I support the amendment because it works. It has facilitated the rescue of more than 250.000 persecuted Jews and other minorities from the former Soviet Union since Congress adopted it in 1989. For decades. the United States led the world in seeking the release of the refuseniks and urging freedom of emigration under the JacksonVanik amendment. Having come this far. we should not abandon this historic commitment by bringing this humanitarian program to a premature end. Clearly. major political changes have occurred in the region.
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refugees emigration Immigration