U.S. Asked to Authorize Thirty Thousand Visas for Soviet Jews

Rep. Edward I. Koch, New York Democrat, introduced a bill today authorizing the State Department to issue 30,000 visas for admission of Soviet Jews into the United States. The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee which is headed by New York Democrat Emanuel Celler. Koch pointed out that the U.S. special refugee quote of 10,200 visas for the eastern hemisphere has been over-subscribed for the past two years. The bill, Kosh said, was a form of challenge to the Soviet Union “to open wide her doors and permit the Jews who are vilified there to leave. “Enactment of the bill will be both a real invitation and an expression of conscience.”