THE SCOTT REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00380R000300010063-3
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 15, 2005
• Sequence Number: 63
• Publication Date: May 2, 1973
• Content Type: REPORT

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FUR RELEASE : Wednesday, May 2, 1973.
From The Washington News-Intelligence Syndicate
7508 Elmhurst Street, S.E., Washington, D.C., 20028
Phone: 301 - 736-6834
By Paul Scott
Washington, May 2: Senator Henry Jackson (D. Wash.) has the votes in the Senate and House to
write into any new trade legislation a ban against granting "most-favored-nation" privileges to
Russia until the Kremlin permits its citizens the right to emigrate freely.
Surveys taken by Jackson reveal that his amendment would receive at least 70
votes in the Senate and more than 250 in the House if the measure was brought to a showdown vote
in Congress today.
Supporters of the explosive Jackson amendment say the Kremlin's recant announce-
ment that the assessment of the steep exit fees on Jewish emigrants was being waved has had no
adverse impact on support for the Jackson amendment.
The Soviet gesture, which no one here but the White House takes serious, has
made the Jackson supporters only more determined to include the restriction in the President's new
trade proposal.
Battling over the Nixon trade proposals is scheduled to get under way formally when
the House Ways and Means Committee opens hearings here May 7 with the major confrontation
shaping up over the Jackson amendment.
President Nixon has taken the position he be allowed to give Russia and other
communist countries the same standing in selling to the U.S. that non-communist nations have.
Currently, the Soviet Union does not get such "most-favored -nation" treatment, meaning its
goods pay higher tariffs when they enter the U.S.
It is the position of Senator Jackson that the U.S. should deny the benefits of
abudant U.S. economy -- most favored access to our markets, credits, credit guarantees, and
investment guarantees -- to any country that denies its citizens the right or opportunity to
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"In so moving we are upholding our traditional commitment to individual liberty
a commitment that was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights unanimously
adopted by the United Nations more than 25 years ago," Jackson says.
That Declaration, in Article 13, Jackson stresses, affirms the deep conviction
of the American people that "everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and
to return to his country."
EXPLOSIVE AMENDMENT -- In a background memorandum now being circulated
among members of Congress, Senator Jackson spotlights the fact that his amendment is designed to
help persons of all nationalities and faiths and not just Soviet Jews, stating:
"The Soviets have gone to some length to convey the impression that the question
of free emigration is simply a Jewish issue. Their representatives, even as guests in this country,
have resorted to the cruel incitement of anti-Semitic sentiments in an effort to scare off support
for our amendment.
"Their broadcasts out of Moscow, their English-language publications intended for
consumption here and their diplomatic representations have been pressed into service for this most
odious purpose.
"We believe that there is a unique international quality about the right of free
emigration -- for the individuals involved may be Soviet citizens today, but they wi ;h to become
citizens of other nations tomorrow -- citizens free to live their lives according to the values
and laws of those nations. No matter what the cause of his desire to emigrate -- whether it be
the right to worship or to dissent, to publish or speak, to read or write or listen to what they
please, alI of these and any of them can be realized by emigrating. Of freedoms, the right to
emigrate is first among equals."
In urging other lawmakers to support his controversial amendment, Jackson
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"It is a fact of history that, in their despair, thousands of people who wish only to
emigrate have appealed to us for help. Those who have made their appeals public have often
incurred great risk in doing so, and all have placed their hopes and their trust in our response.
"We Americans, immigrants ourselves, have stood before the world as the symbol of
free men. Our own tradition and the course of history have placed upon us a most awesome
responsibility, and our own economic and technological advantages have now given us a unique
opportunity to help secure a basic human right for those who are already risking everything in its
pursuit."
TEETH I N THE AMENDMENT -- Under provisions of the Jackson amendment,
the granting of "most-favored nation" treatment and the extension of credits or credit guarantees
or investment guarantees are contingent on a report from the President to Congress that the country
in question does not deny its citizens the right or opportunity to emigrate, and does not inhibit
free emigration by imposing the payment of more than nominal taxes, fees, fines or other charges.
This report, which lies at the heart of the Jackson amendment, would be required
at semi-annual intervals for so I ong as the trade benefits in question were made available. I t is
t his provision, Jackson contends, that would give Congress the essential assurance of continuing
compliance with the free emigration requirement..
Reports from U.S. Embassy in Moscow clearly show there is not now anything
approaching the right of free emigration from the Soviet Union or the Communist bloc states
under Soviet control. Current Kremlin practice has involved the most extreme harassment of
person apply to emigrate -- dismissal from his jobs, withdrawal of pensions, "interviews" with
KGB, Soviet secret police, arrests, and imprisonment.
At issue is the ending of the Iron Curtain. I f they could have assurances of
getting out of Russia and other Soviet bloc countries in ;astern Europe, the number that would
leave are believed to be in the millions. More than 100,000 Soviet Jews already have applied
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