[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 168 (Thursday, November 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2302]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING ANNIVERSARIES OF MASS MOVEMENT FOR SOVIET JEWISH FREEDOM 
               AND FREEDOM SUNDAY RALLY FOR SOVIET JEWRY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 30, 2007

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to 
rise in support of H. Res. 759, which recognizes two of the most 
important events in the area of human rights in the twentieth century: 
Recognizing the 40th Anniversary of the Mass Movement for Soviet Jewish 
Freedom and the 20th Anniversary of the Freedom Sunday Rally on the 
Mall in Washington, DC.
  I would like to specifically touch on one of the most important 
aspects of the Jewish struggle for freedom--the right to emigrate.
  A few months ago, the travel plans of many Americans were disrupted 
when they were unable to acquire within a reasonable period of time 
U.S. passports that would allow them to travel abroad to certain 
regions. It was an inconvenience, but fortunately, the State Department 
with great effort cleared up the backlog and the waiting period is now 
back to around two months.
  Now imagine waiting five, ten, or even fifteen years for a passport 
allowing you to leave the country.
  Imagine not filling out an application and dropping it into the mail, 
but instead trudging from office to educational institution to police 
station seeking signatures from employers and various officials, 
without which the emigration office would not even consider the 
application to emigrate.
  Imagine being told you can't leave, but not given any rational reason 
as to why not. Or being told that you cannot emigrate because of 
military service--in a construction unit!
  Imagine taking to the streets with a sign demanding the right to 
reunify with one's family and loved ones abroad, as stipulated in the 
U.N. Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and being set upon by 
police and perhaps winding up in a forced labor camp or in internal 
exile in some tiny village in Siberia.
  It may be hard to imagine, but this is what thousands of Soviet Jews 
faced when they wanted to emigrate to Israel from the former Soviet 
Union.
  And why did Soviet Jews want to emigrate? Many of them were tired of 
the government anti-semitism that permeated the Soviet 
system, including a quota system for educational institutions. 
Understandably, they did not want their children to face these 
obstacles.

  Many wished to practice their Jewish faith, to be able to attend a 
synagogue--if they could find one that hadn't been closed by the 
Communists--without having to worry that some Communist Party hack 
would see them and report them to their employers or teachers. Others 
were tired of the constant stream of anti-Semitic articles in the 
Soviet press parading as opposition to Zionism.
  In 1967, with the Soviet press spewing tirades against Israel and 
alleged Zionist misdeeds in the wake of Israel's victory in the Six Day 
War, the Jewish emigration movement in the Soviet Union began in 
earnest. Many applicants, to be sure, were allowed to leave, but others 
were refused time and time again. The word ``refusenik'' was coined. 
Members of the Jewish community in the United States and throughout the 
world took up their cause. Others who cherished basic human rights, 
including Members of this body, joined in solidarity. Activists took 
part in demonstrations, wrote letters to Soviet officials, visited 
refuseniks in the Soviet Union, sent packages to imprisoned refuseniks, 
and never quit working on their behalf. It was an impressive 
demonstration of determination and unity.
  And as this resolution notes, almost twenty years ago, on December 6, 
1987, an estimated 250,000 persons demonstrated on the National Mall 
here in Washington on behalf of Soviet Jewish emigration as President 
Reagan prepared for a summit meeting with General Secretary Gorbachev. 
African Americans joined the rally in large numbers due in part to the 
active Jewish participation in the civil rights movement in the United 
States. One of these African American leaders eloquently expressed why 
so many non-Jews were there. He said, ``As long as one Jew is kept 
against his will in the Soviet Union, we are all Jews.''
  A few years later, as the Soviet Union was collapsing and perestroika 
and glasnost became the watchwords, the barriers to Soviet Jewish 
emigration were lifted. Justice had at last prevailed.
  Mr. Speaker, this resolution recognizes both the brave individuals 
who stood up to tyranny and demanded their right to freedom of 
movement, and those who vigorously campaigned on their behalf.
  As Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in 
Europe, I am honored to stand with my colleague and good friend, Henry 
Waxman, in support of this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do 
the same.

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