spent most of the time telling us that Brezhnev said that if harassment and difficulty with numbers continue, Brezhnev could take personal responsibility with the President. The President could complain directly to Brezhnev. Remember, Scoop, they previously said we had to bring it to the proper authorities, but never to Brezhnev.
Jackson: I think we are making good progress. The Russians are giving. The reports back from the Soviet Union are that they now consider there are 300,000 wanting to leave. They could handle that in 4-5 years. We got some letter changes last night. We three are in agreement. I want to touch base in the Senate, and talk to Meany. He is up tight about it. The labor people are fighting the hill.
Javits: The Trade Bill. This indicates their hangup.
Jackson: With this in the bill you will get more support from those who will push it for emigration.
Kissinger: In the text of the letter--we can't bother the President just about a legal clause. For example, it will cause no trouble with the Soviet Union to say "as frequently happened in the past."
Jackson: There are two areas. One is harassment. This is not just for the Jewish emigrants; it's all of the ethnic groups. The others are tough, but not well organized. They are hot on this.
President: I know, I have 5,000 Latvians in my old district.
Jackson: The big problem is harassment. If you apply, you get harassed.
Kissinger: They have specifically said those practices wouldn't take place. They may not keep the agreement, but that is something they have specifically assured us.
President: I can assure you that, if we get an agreement, if there are violations of it, it won't take me 24 hours to cut it off.
Ribicoff: There has been much quiet cooperation among us. We are at the last issue-- the 60,000 figure. Is that realistic?
Kissinger: I am worried. If Jackson's figure is right, it is okay, but we don't know that. They don't want to have to expel people to meet a quota. They say the applications are dropping because of the Middle East situation. Would we know if harassment continues?
SECRET/NODIS
