Oppose Change in Jackson Amendment

The National Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations have voiced opposition to any changes in the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act without an improvement in the Soviet Union’s restrictive emigration policy. The two groups issued a joint statement following a meeting Thursday between President Ford and several of the 17 Senators who recently visited the Soviet Union.

The statement said: “Without any prior signs of positive performance we oppose new efforts to modify those vital portions of the Trade Act which link trade policies to the emigration practices of non-market countries. With respect to the Soviet Union, that performance has been shockingly poor. In the last six months Soviet authorities could have demonstrated their positive intentions in regard to international obligations on emigration, without any connection to trade matters. Instead Jewish emigration has been slashed to its lowest point in years, and more Jews were imprisoned for emigration-related incidents.

“In our view the ball is now in the Soviet court and before any thought can be given to modifying the law of the land we must see action by the Soviets: an end to the harassment of Jews, unhampered emigration for those Jews who wish to leave, and the equality of treatment in the USSR for Jews. While we support efforts to improve relations between our two great nations, we also believe that the Soviet Union should be more responsive to the sentiments of the American people in regard to basic human rights.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Jacob K. Javits (R, NY), one of the Senators who visited the USSR, told the National Conference and the Greater New York Conference on Soviet Jewry that any easing of credit restrictions is tied to progress in Jewish emigration from the USSR. “There has to be some movement on the Soviet side,” Javits said, noting that there has not been any such movement during the last six months.