Mr. Speaker. without any public discussion. a provision was inserted in this brew last night that would fundamentally alter American policy by repealing the Lautenberg amendment that has made it practical for Jews and Evangelical Christians emigrating from the former Soviet Union to receive refugee status in the United States. The Lautenberg amendment recognizes a simple and straightforward fact: that there is still a great deal of religious persecution in the former Soviet Union. that antiSemitism and religious persecution did not die with the Communist government. and that. if anything. with virulent nationalists and antiSemites like Vladimir Zhirinovsky active and increasingly popular. the need to provide a safe haven is as great as ever. Finally. even if some in this House are prepared to believe that the Lautenberg amendment is no longer needed. the Jews of the formier Soviet Union are not.
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refugee emigrating