City Council Minority Leader Eldon R. Clingan has introduced a resolution calling upon the United States Congress to enact the Koch Bill which provides for the issuance of special immigration visas to Soviet Jews. In a letter to all members of the Council, Clingan, a Manhattan Liberal, said that he would ask for immediate consideration of the resolution at the next Council meeting tomorrow. Clingan said that Congress has previously passed legislation to enable the refugees of Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Cuba to emigrate to this country. “Yet, the current refugee quota to the Eastern Hemisphere would bar thousands of Soviet Jews from our shores even if they were allowed to emigrate on a modest scale,” he noted. Congressman Edward I. Koch, a New York Democrat-Liberal, has introduced the Soviet Jews Relief Act of 1971 which authorizes 30,000 special visas outside the regular immigration quota system. “Support for this bill would further evidence New York’s appreciation for the contribution of immigrants to our city and nation.” Clingan said.
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