Rep. Dante Fascell (D. Fla.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, warned today that if the United States and the Soviet Union conclude a “verifiable” arms control agreement, public pressure would require ratification without assurances of improvements in Soviet human rights policies.
“It is our job in every step of the way to make absolutely sure that the totality of our relationship depends an improvements in human rights,” Fascell told the 1985 leadership conference of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. The NCSJ is planning its strategy following the Geneva summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
Fascell agreed with the official NCSJ position that while there is no “formal linkage” between arms control or any other U.S.-Soviet agreements, “the linkage is there” with human rights. “You really cannot have any improvements of bilateral relations until ultimately the question of human rights is ameliorated,” he said. Fascell noted that this was the position of Congress as well as that of both Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz.
QUIET DIPLOMACY IS NOT ENOUGH
While Reagan is now seeking to raise the human rights issue through quiet diplomacy, Fascell stressed that Congress and the Jewish community should continue bringing the issue up before the public.
“I can’t see why that (quiet diplomacy) should inhibit anything at all,” Fascell said. “As a matter of fact, it would be worse if we fell into the trap of saying let’s just lie low and see what happens.”
Fascell said he saw as “a hopeful sign” from the summit that there was a “de-escalation of the rhetoric.” But what he was waiting for was some concrete signs, such as improvement in the conditions of Soviet Jews. “I ain’t seen anything yet,” he said, adding he hopes that some indications could come before Gorbachev arrives in the U.S. next June.
Fascell said that while he welcomed the agreements for exchanges signed at Geneva, they were just “atmospherics.”
Jerry Goodman, the NCSJ’s executive director, warned that in the eagerness for commercial agreements and scientific and cultural exchanges, the “fate” of Soviet Jews could be “bargained away.”
Fascell also expressed the fear that the Soviets might try to leave the issue of human rights for last, after other agreements had been reached.
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