Legislation Introduced for Appropriation of $250m to Assist Israel in Receiving, Resettling Jews Fro

Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D., Wash.) today introduced legislation calling for the appropriation of $250 million to assist Israel in receiving and resettling “persecuted Jews of the Soviet Union.” In a floor speech, Jackson asked Congress to provide $100 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and an additional $150 million in fiscal 1973, which begins July 1.

The legislation “authorizes and directs” the President to establish a program of financial aid and other assistance to Israel and other countries for the “movement of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union and/or resettlement and support of such refugees.” The legislation requires the consent of both houses of Congress on both authorization and appropriation and approval of the President before it becomes law.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency was informed today by sources close to Ben. Edmund 8. Muskie (D., Maine) that he will also present a bill on Monday urging assistance for Soviet Jews. The measure, they said, will authorize the State Department to expend $85 million in fiscal 1973 for Soviet refugees residing in Israel. He had earlier urged such legislation during a news conference in Miami on Jan. 8. President Nixon’s budget for fiscal 1973, presented last week to Congress, asked only $8.212 million for “migration and refugee assistance.”

In his floor speech, Jackson said: “A new bill is needed if we are to move effectively to help relieve the inhuman suffering of the Russian Jews. Amending existing legislation just won’t do the job….The right to free emigration is basic and fundamental to human liberty. Without this right national borders become prison walls in pursuit of freedom, the least we can do is offer material aid to assist in their resettlement.”