 And I thought that that defeated itself, but yes, that's what I mean, that when it is the time to meet and discuss something, that you tell him personally, not on the front page of all the papers, you tell him personally that you can't give this because of what he is or is not doing. I hesitate to suggest humor in the presence of people who have suffered so much, but I don't know whether you have ever heard it. I understand that this story came from the Soviet Union, and it's a story that the people themselves were telling, so maybe you know it. And it was a story about Mr. Brezhnev's elder mother being shown for the first time all that went with his new job. And so she came into Kremlin and saw the offices, and you know the story. I am so interested in getting the stories that come from the Communist Party. I think I know it. Now that he asked you, another one was told that it was not supposed to be taken from Russia, and this was supposed to be an American and a Russian debating the merits of our two countries. And the American said, in my country, I can walk into the Oval Office, I can pound the desk, and I can say, President Reagan, I don't like the way you're running our country. And the Russian said, I could do that too. Is there anyone here who doesn't know it? Russia, when he explained that they used to do the same thing, he said he could do the same thing as Kremlin. How did Mr. Brezhnev just say, I don't like the way you're running our country? He animates you. Question, what is Brezhnev's morning beginning with? Answer, with reanimation. So in some of the last castes, what he was doing in the last year as President, he was telling stories. The Soviet political system is a very special kind of system, it's an atheistic system. Neither Brezhnev nor his colleagues believe in spiritual values. This is why for so many years they've waged a pitiless struggle against Christianity and other religions. That means you must not believe in spiritual values. They only understand the severe work in a positional strength. Right now we know of 300 believers, Christians in there. Of them, 150 about this. Many are in horrible conditions and died in hard legal camps from lack of medical care. And I think the private conversation, perhaps I should raise the question in particular of the Soviet Orthodox priest Yekhovna. That is the priest Yekhovna. He's suffering from cancer this time. I think that the issue of religious freedom in the Soviet Union is very important for America, because what started there can come here. The whole world looks at America as a country of great freedom. God is less than America. For 200 years America had extraordinary freedom of religion. No other country has ever had such freedom. That is why God has put a great responsibility on you and your country for the freedom of the world. According to a Jewish tradition, one has to have the so-called meaning that is letting people come together for a prayer. It's practically out of that. I completely agree with what was said. But the situation with Jewish religion in the Soviet Union is heaving and completely extinguished. There is no talk of Jewish religion because it is outlawed and it is condemned as a bloodthirsty religion. And I would like to pick up the point about personalities. I want to stress that this is not really the question of personalities. In the Soviet Union there exists no legality. There is no possibility to implement the laws that are already written down in the constitution. However, due to this fact, due to the fact that everybody must be silent, the law of special people who dare to speak out is enormous, because they speak for the whole community, for the whole people. And that is why to say Saka is not to say some one person, but to be called to every country. And I would like to mention the name of another leader who is the Saka for the Jewish immigration movement, who is, for now, Dr. Victor Beribolsky. Because I want to mention that since he was arrested, every Jewish activity was absolutely stoned. Because now everybody thinks that he was arrested, as they know. In the United States, allowed to pass it by, nobody is safe, nobody can speak out. So I really think that if the leaders are not safe, there is a true danger that the whole country will become a second country as it was established. This is the society upside down. And the lack of faith of the leaders is the fate of this nation. People have the right to their homes and to be the owners of their land, in South America and in South Atlantic. But he forgot to say that the USSR also requires the people to be the owners of their land, both in Europe and in Afghanistan. He only knows that in the whole world to protect the people's rights, but his own country ignites other peoples of the Soviet Union. Mr. President, I would like to tell a sort of a sad joke here. On the 5th of this month, Mr. Petrovnev received representatives from Nicaragua, and he talked to them about their right for their homeland and their country. But it is true that he is forgetting the fact that that wish and that law is not maintained in the Soviet Union. He is forgetting Europe, he is forgetting Afghanistan, he is forgetting people in the Soviet Union itself. He sees only the oppression of other people by others, but he does not see oppression in his own country. When he talks about freedom in Nicaragua and freedom in Cuba, he should always be reminded of the absence of freedom in his own country, and this is the only way he understands. And the statement here was made that we are here to talk to you about our people. Yes, and we are not known or felt much of what you've said about the inhumanity of that government, where it comes from. I wonder looking at what we saw in court when the pope visited there, if maybe the answer can't be to reawaken among the people something that still is there and that is a hunger for God. I must say that the people of the Soviet Union, the Russians, the Ukrainians and others are really tired of it. Even among youth there is a yearning for Christian values. And the persecution of Christians is due to the fact that the government fears, the fact that it cannot convince the population of the rightness of this country. The existence of prisons and camps for the leaders is proof not of the strength or the weakness of the Soviet government. I believe that when the Soviet Union was here, I would like to help the people to learn more about the Soviet Union. For that reason, when I was in the Soviet Union and when I am here, I considered my mission in life to fight for the strength of faith and belief in God. I have heard our agencies, like the Voice of America, Radio Liberty and those other things, to income. There is special broadcasting for protestants, not only for Orthodox and Jewish guys, but special broadcasting for protestants. It's very active people in the Soviet Union. This broadcasting is very important to distribute books in the Soviet Union. But unfortunately, on the books program, there is just a little fraction of resources for broadcasting. But books are much more important in a way to have access to decision makers in the Soviet Union, to give them alternative ideas. I know that there are organizations that are doing things like that. My thought was that generally, if in those broadcasts, if we spoke to the hunger for God, that people must feel to keep that in alive. Now I have to take an organization, which is the Voice of America, which is transmitted to the people, and I had the opportunity to give it to people who have the power to keep it alive. Could you let me just say a few words of farewell for your podium, because I have some notes. So you won't have to. But I would like you to know, on behalf of our countrymen, how honored that we are to welcome you here to the White House. This is the people's house in America. You're the first group of fighters for freedom and human rights in the Soviet Union ever to be received here in the White House. That's, of course, a great source of satisfaction to us, but there's something even more important about your visit. You may come from different regions, represent different faiths and nationalities, but you are united by a bond every bit as strong as it is rare. That's, of course, a huge source of satisfaction to us. But there's something even more important about your visit, although you're from different regions, and you have different faiths and nationalities, but you are united by bonds that are as strong as they are rare. You live for truth, you fight for truth, and you've proved you're willing to risk your lives for it. The seemingly all-powerful Soviet state is still terrified by the brave voices and acts of courage like your own. With the sacrifices you've made, you redeem your national honor. Freedom itself is in your debt. Freedom is in your debt. Freedom is in your debt. Freedom is in your debt. Freedom is in your debt. You demonstrate that Russians and other national groups of the Soviet Union share our common ideals, and that the actions of the Soviet government do not represent its people's real feelings and aspirations. My only regret is that we cannot look at this table and see the faces of Andrei Sakharov, Anatoly Shyransky, Yuri Orlov, and all those others who have been deprived of their freedom for the crime of wanting freedom for their people. My only regret is that we cannot look at this table and see the faces of Andrei Sakharov, Anatoly Shyransky, Yuri Orlov, and all those who have been deprived of their freedom for the crime of wanting freedom for their people. Now, we do not want them to have to leave their beloved countries as you've had to do. Our hope, our challenge is that someday they may wake up knowing that there will be no more persecution, no more pain, just because they love the truth, strive for a greater good, and believe in God. My only regret is that we cannot look at this table and see the faces of Andrei Sakharov, Anatoly Shyransky, Yuri Orlov, and all those who have been deprived of their freedom for the crime of wanting freedom for their people. The presence of the oppressed is as bad as any crime. I pledge to you that the United States will speak out, will stand up for, and will defend the values that we share. Communists boast that they will crush democratic freedoms. Well, let us tell them, you can imprison your people, you can close their schools, you can take their books, harass their priests, and smash their unions. But you can never destroy the love of God and freedom that burns in their hearts. They will triumph over you. Andrei Sakharov, imprisoned but unbowed, told the West, everything is as it was under the system of power and economy created by Stalin. But he added, I consider the United States the historically determined leader of the movement toward a pluralist and free society vital to mankind. Andrei Sakharov, imprisoned but unbowed, told the West that everything is as it was under the system of power and economy created by Stalin. But he added, I consider the United States the historically determined leader of the movement toward a pluralist and free society vital to mankind. Andrei Sakharov, imprisoned but unbowed, told the West that everything is as it was under the system of power and economy created by Stalin. Andrei Sakharov, imprisoned but unbowed, told the West that everything is as it was under the system of power and economy created by Stalin. My Americans should be worthy of this call. We should not forget that we achieved our freedom not without the help of others. And that those people who turn away from their friends often lose what they consider the most valuable and that freedom can be lost only during one generation. What we stand for and what together all of us must do. Let me just add that you have re-inspired in me a belief which I don't think has ever faltered, but a belief of what our responsibility is and what must be done in the world. And it is stronger now within me than it has ever been. And again, thank you and God bless you. All right. I know now I must leave. I must leave. I won't try to say goodbye individually again, but we shall see each other again.