Strong Affirmation of J-v Amendment Voiced at Soviet Jewry Conference

Continued strong affirmation of the Jackson-Vanik provisions of the 1974 U.S. Trade Act was voiced today by Eugene Gold, newly elected chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, at the closing luncheon of the NCSJ’s board of governors leadership assembly two-day meeting at the Shoreham Hotel.

“It is the law on the books and we must support that law,” Gold declared with reference to the measure that links U.S. trade benefits to the Soviet Union with liberalization of that country’s emigration policies. Some 150 delegates attended the assembly to discuss future programming on behalf of Soviet Jewry.

Gold, the District Attorney of Brooklyn, who succeeded Stanley Lowell as NCSJ chairman, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “if there are significant changes in Soviet policies and practices, we are not going to be bound to any precise letter of the law.” He explained that “There may be room for flexible interpretation of the law which would be dependent upon Soviet compliance with the human rights of Jews.”

Gold said at the luncheon that “it is perfectly clear that the rejection of the trade agreement by the Soviet Union was because of the Stevenson legislation and not the Jackson-Vanik legislation.” An amendment to the trade act by Sen. Adlai Stevenson (D.III.) put a $300 million ceiling on U.S. Import-Export Bank credits to the Soviet Union over a four-year period.

Prof. Aleksandr Luntz, former director of the Science Institute in Moscow, who immigrated to Israel last January, accused the Soviet authorities of offering Jews for sale for billions of dollars. He said that in view of the Stevenson provisions, the Soviets felt that U.S. payment was too low and therefore abrogated the trade agreement.

JACKSON DEFENDS HIS AMENDMENT

Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.Wash.), co-author of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, described his measure as part of the “largest struggle for human rights in all lands for all people.” He said that “despite massive campaigns by the Soviet Union, the White House and powerful businessmen all efforts to reverse our commitment to freedom embodied in that historic legislation have been turned aside.” Jackson assailed President Ford and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger for their opposition to the Jackson-Vanik legislation and for their efforts to get Congress to delete it from the trade bill or water it down.

Gov. Edmund J. Brown, Jr, of California, told the delegates yesterday he favors hard-bargaining with the Soviets on American wheat and technology to secure the free emigration for Soviet Jews. In an addressed followed by a question and answer period. Brown, who is a candidate for the Democratic Presidential nomination, said he had mixed feelings about the effectiveness of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.

Lowell said the campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry will be “long and hard, but it is clear that American Jews and Christians are prepared to shoulder that responsibility for as long as necessary.”