Rabbi Israel Miller, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said yesterday the Conference was confident that Congress would examine closely the record of the Rumanian government on Jewish emigration before acting on a trade agreement submitted to Congress last Thursday.
The agreement was expected to provide an initial legislative test of the restrictions in the 1974 trade act which link U.S. trade benefits to freer emigration from Communist countries. That law contains amendments from Sen. Henry Jackson (D. Wash.) and Rep. Charles Vanik (D.O.) providing such a linkage and aimed at compelling the Soviet Union to allow more Jews and other nationals to emigrate.
In the negotiations in Bucharest earlier this month, the Rumanian government rejected such a linkage but Rumanian officials cited Rumania’s relatively liberal emigration policy, under which nearly 400,000 Rumanian Jews emigrated since the end of World War II, mostly to Israel.
CURRENT PERFORMANCE IS THE STANDARD
Rabbi Miller said it was true that “in the past” Rumania had followed “a liberal policy in permitting its Jewish citizens to emigrate to Israel.” But, he added, “it is current performance–not past history–which the 1974 trade act establishes as the standard by which the Congress is to judge whether to extend most favored nation status,” He added that “we have underscored this point in our discussions with Rumanian government representatives in this country, with the State Department and with various members of Congress.”
Rabbi Miller noted that, under the law, the Congress has 60 days to approve or deny the trade agreement with Rumania. He added that “we are confident that, during this period, the Congress will take careful note of the Rumanian government’s actions with regard to the many Jews who have applied to emigrate and are still awaiting permission to do so. Only if the Bucharest government lives up to the free emigration requirement of the trade act can the Congress approve preferential terms of trade to Rumania.”
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