Gromyko Denial Shocks Soviet Jews' Backers
NEW YORK (JTA) —Sup-
porters of Soviet Jewry re-
acted swiftly to the Gromyko
letter released by Tass in
Moscow repudiating any un-
derstanding between the U.S.
and the USSR on Soviet emi-
gration• practices. Stanley H.
Lowell, chairman of the Na-
tional Conference on Soviet
Jewry, expressed "shock and
consternation" in a state-
ment released in New York.
Members of the Senate-
House Conference Committee
currently resolving differ-
ences in their respective ver-
sions of the Trade Reform
Bill indicated that the Jack-
son Amendment will remain
in the legislation and that
Moscow will have to comply
with the terms of the under-
standing on emigration or
forego U.S. trade benefits.
Under the legislation, Presi-
dent Ford has 18 months to
determine whether the Rus-
sians are complying.
Lowell stated: "We as-
sume that Secretary Kissin-
ger will pick up the 'hot line'
between Washington and
Moscow to obtain prompt
clarification. First reports
indicate that this (Gromyko's
letter) is a total rejection of
the entire basis upon which
the Congress and the Ford
Administration contemplated
passage of the Trade Reform
Act."
He added that Kissinger
had asserted that assurances
of harassment would be end-
ed, as • spelled out in the
Kissinger-Jackson letters, by
Gromyko in his meeting with
Kissinger and Soviet Ambas-
sador Anatoly F. Dobrynin
at his meeting with Ford and
Kissinger.
Sen. Russell Long, chairman
of the Senate-House Confer-
ence Committee, brushed off
the Gromyko letter. "I don't
pay any attention to what
the Russians say anyway,"
he told newsmen. He said
the Tass announcement
"doesn't affect me one way
or the other."
A similar reaction was giv-
en by Sen. Abraham Ribi-
coff (D.-Conn.) who with
Sen. Henry M. Jackson (D.-
Wash.) and Sen. Jacob K.
Javits (R.-NY) played a key
role in. negotiations with
President Ford and Kissing-
er on Soviet emigration prac-
tices.
"It's meaningless at the
present time," Ribicoff said,
meaning that the Gromyko
repudiation will not affect
U. S. expectations expressed
in the Jackson Amendment.
He recalled that Kissinger
appeared before the Senate
Finance Committee Dec. 3
"and at that time he indicat-
ed that what was worked out
was satisfactory to the So-
viet Union."
Jackson said he was not
concerned over the Gromyko
letter which he speculated
was "probably in the face-
saving category." But he said
it was "important to see the
contents of the letter and to
get the full and true meaning
of it."
In Washington, Bnai Brith
president David M. Blum-
berg said that if Gromyko's
letter "is not mere propa-
ganda aimed at placating the
Arabs on the eve of Commu-
nist Party chief Leonid Brezh-
nev's visit to Cairo, then the
Soviets have bargained in
bad faith and reneged on
their assurances to Secretary
of State Kissinger." More-
over, Blumberg added, "they
have undermined detente it-
self."
He said the trade bill had
been passed on the assump-
tion that 60,000 Soviet immi-
grants would leave next year
and "that figure was not
pulled from the air. It was
realistically based on assum-
ing that the Soviets would
end their policy of obstruc-
tion and harassment of the
applicants for visas to leave
the country." But, Blumberg
added, "if the Gromyko
statement is Soviet policy
and practice, then the So-
viets maybe sure that the
trade concessions will not be
permitted by Congress."
Referring to the Gromyko
letter, State Department
spokesman Robert Anderson
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said that Secretary of State
Kissinger "stands by his let-
ter of Oct. 18" to Sen. Jack-
son outlining a U.S.-Soviet
understanding on Russian
emigration practices.
Anderson reported that
Kissinger met with Soviet
Ambassador Anatoly F. Do-
brynin and that the subject
of the U.S. trade bill did
come up. He said the meet-
ing was held after the dis-
closure of the Gromyko let-
ter.
Meanwhile, congressional
leaders, ignoring the Gromy-
ko denial of a linkage be-
tween emigration and U.S.
trade concessions, pushed
ahead for quick enactment
of the Ford Administration's
Trade Bill with the Jack-
son Amendment intact.
The • House and Senate
passed versions of the bill,
each embodying such an
easement, in exchange for
such benefits as most fav-
ored nation trading status.
Members of a Senate-House
Conference Committee re-
solved minor differences in
the two bills. The Senate ver-
sion contains an amendment
sponsored by Sen. Jackson
and the House version con-
tains the Mills-Vanik amend-
ment, which link the two
matters.
Jackson said he would
push for quick final approv-
al of the bills by the Senate
and House in time for Pres-
ident Ford to sign the bill
into law before the end of
the current Congress, this
month.
In a telephone interview
broadcast over Kol Israel,
Jackson said he had assur-
ances from Ford that, dur-
ing the initial 18-month trial
period of the projected trade
pact, the President would not
hesitate to halt most-favored-
nation treatment for the So-
viet Union if he felt the So-
viets were not acting in good
faith on the emigration 'com-
mitment.
(The Israel govemnment
remained silent on the Grom-
yko letter but political sources
l'n Jerusalem referred news-
men to Jackson's statement
that the linkage agreement
would be "tested in prac-
tice," not in letters.
(The "wait and see" theme
also was sounded by Moshe
Rivlin, the Jewish Agency
director general, speaking on
Israel Radio. He said he
would not like to commit
himself on any aspects of
Soviet emigration policy, add-
ing that "We will have to
wait and see how things
work out in reality." He also
said that regardless of what
the real meaning of the
Gromyko repudiation letter
might turn out to be, Israel
should continue plans for
large-scale immigration from
the Soviet Union.)
Jewish leaders meanwhile
called for continued vigilance
over Soviet emigration poli-
cies. Dr. Judah J. Shapiro,
president of the Labor Zion-
ist Alliance, said "This new
Soviet announcement reject-
ing the terms of the Jackson
Amendment is a repetition of
what had been said directly
to Dr. Kissinger at the end
of October. While it is pos-
sible to keep information
from the public in the USSR,
it ought not to be the way in
which such matters are hon-
ored in a democracy like the
U.S."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
18—Friday, Dec. 27, 1974
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French ORT Gains
N. African Students
PARIS—Nearly 300 young
'men from Tunisia and Mor-
occo registered for ORT
classes at Montreuil/Paris
and another 20 enrolled at
Villiers-le-Bel as the 1974-
75 school year got under
way according to the ORT
France Director General.
• Announcing- t h a t ORT
France enrolled 1,319 new
students for the new school
year—an increase of 5 per-
cent over last year—the di-
rector pointed out that the
new influx of North Afri-
cans not only makes increas-
ingly heavy demands on ORT
for personal assistance, but
these students also require
special training facilities to
raise their educational level.
"One most important point
has to do with the problem
of residence and work per-
mits," he continued. "There
are strict rules in France re-
garding such permits and
they are difficult to get. For-
eigners who have been ad-
mitted to an ORT school,
how9,ver, are eligible for both
with little delay," the direc-
tor said.
.
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a4
' 114
Congressman-elect
Jim Blanchard
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