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FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1989
Washington (JTA) —
American Jewish groups have
welcomed President Bush's
announcement Friday of con-
ditions the Soviet Union
would have to meet before a
waiver of U.S. trade sanctions
against that country could be
considered.
"Should the Soviet Union
codify its emigration laws in
accord with international
standards and implement its
new laws faithfully, I am
prepared to work with Con-
gress for a temporary waiver
of the Jackson-Vanik Amend-
ment, opening the way to ex-
tending most-favored-nation
trade status to the Soviet
Union," Bush said in a com-
mencement address last Fri-
day at Texas A-M University.
Bush's statement came a
day after Secretary of State
James Baker told a news con-
ference in Moscow that he
told Soviet leaders that it
would be appropriate to con-
sider waiving Jackson-Vanik
as well as the Stevenson
Amendment, which
withholds U.S. government
credits, should Soviet emigra-
tion reforms be "institu-
tionalized."
Shoshana Cardin, chair-
woman of the National Con-
ference on Soviet Jewry, said
she welcomed Bush's "setting
of criteria which the Soviet
Union should meet prior to
the recommendation of a
waiver."
The group's preconditions
for consideration of a waiver
are a sustained high level of
Soviet emigration; codifica-
tion of Soviet emigration
laws; progress on resolving
the cases of long-term
refuseniks; and reversal of
emigration refusals to those
who allegedly had access to
state secrets.
A National Conference
delegation will visit the
Soviet Union from May 23 to
28, to meet with refuseniks
and Soviet officials, Cardin
announced. The group's ex-
ecutive committee and board
of governors will consider ad-
vocating a waiver of Jackson-
Vanik penalties at a meeting
in Washington on June 12
and 13.
The group's preconditions
are in line with those an-
nounced by the Washington-
based Union of Councils for
Soviet Jews.
Pamela Cohen, president of
the Union of Councils, said
Bush's statement is in "strict
compliance" with previously
stated U.S. positions on a
waiver and with her group's
own position.
"The president has put the
Jackson-Vanik ball right
where it belongs, in (Mikhail)
Gorbachev's court," Cohen
said. She added that the
Union of Councils is now
waiting for the Soviet leader's
emigration reforms, promised
for late May, and verification
of their implementation.
"If all goes well, the UCSJ
will be among the first to ad-
vocate a one-year waiver," she
added.
Stephen
Silbiger,
Washington representative of
the American Jewish Con-
gress, which in January an-
nounced its support of a one-
year waiver, also welcomed
Emigration factors
will continue to be
the criteria.
Bush's statement. But he call-
ed on the administration to
"move expeditiously" to pro-
pose the waiver.
David Harris, Washington
representative of the
American Jewish Committee,
called Bush's statement "a
welcome balance between
continued American commit-
ment to the principle of free
and unobstructed emigration
and the recognition of the
need for a flexible response."
A White House fact sheet
on Jackson-Vanik, released
Friday, said Bush could pro-
pose a one-year waiver by
notifying Congress. It added
that an interagency review is
under way in the Bush ad-
ministration to determine
whether legislative approval
of a waiver is required.
Jackson-Vanik watchers
have also discussed the
possibility of granting an
18-month waiver, but the
White House fact sheet made
no mention of that possibility.
The fact sheet also stated
that a waiver of Jackson-
Vanik would have to be
followed by a U.S.-Soviet trade
agreement.
Among other things, the
agreement would have to
clarify that an annual review
of Jackson-Vanik would still
occur and that the United
States "still has the right to
withdraw" the waiver, Harris
said.
The United States current-
ly has waived the amendment
against two communist coun-
tries, China and Hungary, ac-
cording to the fact sheet.