A joint resolution to designate May 21, 1986, as "National Andrei Sakharov Day".
PL 99-314 (S.J.Res.323), enacted 05/20/1986

100 STAT. 468 
PUBLIC LAW 99-314-MAY 20, 1986 
Public Law 99-314 
99th Congress 
Joint Resolution 
May 20, 1986 
[S.J. Res. 323] 
To designate May 21,1986, as "National Andrei Sakharov Day". 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov has earned world-wide admiration and 
respect for his courageous and energetic efforts to secure fun-
damental human freedoms for the peoples of the Soviet Union, 
including those rights guaranteed in the Final Act of the Con-
ference on Security and Cooperation in Europe signed at Helsinki, 
Finland on August 1,1975; 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov has been awarded the 1975 Nobel Peace 
Prize for "his love of truth and strong belief in the inviolability 
of human beings . . . his courageous defense of the human 
spirit . . ." and for his life which has made him "the conscience of 
mankind"; 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov, due to his selfless work for human rights 
and world peace, has been illegally banished by the Government 
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the closed city of 
Gorky, where on May 21, 1986, he will spend his sixty-fifth 
birthday in almost total isolation; 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov has been subjected to cruel and unusual 
medical procedures by the Soviet authorities when he conducted 
hunger strikes to protest repeated denials of his wife's, Elena 
Bonner's, request to be permitted to go to the West for medical 
treatment; 
Whereas the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 
has undertaken extraordinary measures, including confiscation of 
personal and professional correspondence and intensive physical 
and electronic surveillance, to isolate Andrei Sakharov and Elena 
Bonner in Gorky; 
Whereas the Soviet Union as signatory to the Universal Declaration 
of Human Rights has committed itself to respect the rights to 
freedom of movement and of residence within the borders of each 
state as well as the right to leave one's own country and return 
to it; 
Whereas the Soviet Union and other signatories of the Helsinki 
Final Act stated their desire "to contribute to the strengthening of 
peace £md understanding among peoples and to the spiritual 
enrichment of the human personality" and were "conscious 
that . . . contacts between people, and the solution of humani-
tarian problems will contribute to the attainment of these aims," 
further made it their objective "to facilitate freer movement and 
contacts, individually and collectively, whether privately or ofii-
cially, among persons, institutions and organizations of the 
participating states, and to contribute to the solution of the 
humanitarian problems that arise in that connexion"; 
Whereas the participating states of the Helsinki Final Act are 
convened in Bern, Switzerland, at the Human Contacts Experts 
Meeting inter alia to discuss implementation of those Helsinki 
Final Act provisions concerning the resolution in a positive and 
PUBLIC LAW 99-314—MAY 20, 1986 
100 STAT. 469 
humanitarian spirit questions related to family visits, the reunifi-
cation of families, binational marriage and promotion of other 
personal and professional contacts between people and between 
organizations; and 
Whereas Andrei Sakharov continues to advocate full compliance by 
all signatory states with the provisions of the Helsinki Final Act 
and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That May 21, 1986, is 
designated "National Andrei Sakharov Day" and that the President 
of the United States is authorized and requested to issue a proclama-
tion calling upon the people of the United States to observe that day 
with appropriate ceremonies and activities. 
SEC. 2. The President of the United States is authorized and 
requested to urge the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist 
Republics to permit Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner freely to 
choose their place of residence. 
Approved May 20, 1986. 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S.J. Res. 323: 
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 132 (1986): 
Apr. 29, considered and passed Senate. 
May 12, considered and passed House.