Hungarian Heritage Review, 1986 (15. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1986-01-01 / 1. szám
4 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JANUARY 1986 CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH 4th District, New Jersey committees: FOREIGN AFFAIRS subcommittees: Europe and the Middle East Human Rights and International Organizations VETERANS' AFFAIRS subcommittees: Health and Hospitals Housing and Memorial Affairs commissioner: COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE SELECT COMMITTEE ON AGING Congress of tfje tHníteb &tateá kotláé of ftepreäentatibeä Maifjtngton, BC 20515 November 12, 1985 Paul Pulitzer Hungarian Heritage Review P. 0. Box 2203 Union, NJ 07083 WASHINGTON OFFICE: 422 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20516 (202) 225-3765 CONSTITUENT SERVICE CENTERS: 2333 White Horse/Mercerville Road Suite H Hamilton, NJ 08619 (609) 890-2800 222 High Street Burlington City, NJ 08016 (609) 386-5534 402 East State Street Room 404 Trenton, NJ 08608 (609) 989-2140 655 Park Avenue Route 33 Freehold, NJ 07728 (201) 780-0707 Dear Mr. Pulitzer: I certainly appreciate knowing of your particular concern with the abuse of human rights and religious repression in Romania and interest in legislation which I have recently introduced. As you may know, I had the opportunity to visit Romania in July of this year with two of my colleagues, Congressmen Frank Wolf and Tony Hall. Upon our return, we outlined specific steps which Romania could take to demonstrate its good faith intention of ceasing religious persecution we witnessed in that country and offered the outline to the Romanian Foreign Minister Stefan Andrei. With only one of the twelve points fulfilled, I have introduced legislation, H.R. 3599, which would suspend Romania's Most Favored Nation trading status for six months. During the suspension, the President is required to assess the status of civil liberties and human rights in Romania and then recommend to Congress whether the suspension should be further extended. MFN status is of great importance to the Romanian government and the vitality of its trade with the U.S. has benefitted from this status. I believe the threat of suspending this privilege is our best leverage for encouraging the necessary change in their human rights record. I trust you will join me in supporting this legislation and will urge other Members of Congress both in the House and Senate to cosponsor H.R. 3599 and S. 1817, respectively. Please feel free to keep in touch with me regarding the status of this legislation. As requested, I have enclosed a copy of H.R. 3599 and a photo of myself. Thank you for your continued interest in this important aspect of our foreign trade policy. ■R H. SMITH Member of Congress CHS/dt Enelosures —continued next page
