Haley Stevens: “I support the Smith amendment, and I remind the Senate that at the time of the great upheaval in the Soviet Union, when…”

“I support the Smith amendment, and I remind the Senate that at the time of the great upheaval in the Soviet Union, when the tanks rolled into Red Square, there was a group of people that was prodemocracy from throughout the world which carried Bibles into that square and literally handed them out to the drivers of the tanks which were coming into Red Square, supposedly to dislodge the new government. While I was chairman of the Presidential prayer group one year, I asked our former great symphony director, Rostropovich, to come and tell about his experience there. He told us of these people coming into the square and handing out those Bibles. What is happening now in Russia is a direct reversal of the open-door policy for those people who believe that freedom of religion is an international freedom. I do believe that the Senate should go on record in support of the Smith amendment today. That is why I urge its adoption at this time.”