SRES 367 RSCalendar No. 510ATS
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 367
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the mass movement for Soviet Jewish freedom and the 20th anniversary of the Freedom Sunday rally for Soviet Jewry on the National Mall.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 6, 2007
Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. SPECTER, Mr. SMITH, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. BIDEN, Mrs. CLINTON, Ms. MIKULSKI, Mr. CONRAD, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. BROWNBACK, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. CASEY, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. VITTERMr. VITTER, and Mr. GRASSLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
November 15, 2007
Reported by Mr. LEAHY, without amendment
November 16, 2007
Considered and agreed to
RESOLUTION
Commemorating the 40th anniversary of the mass movement for Soviet Jewish freedom and the 20th anniversary of the Freedom Sunday rally for Soviet Jewry on the National Mall.
Whereas Jews living in the former Soviet Union were an oppressed cultural minority who faced systematic, state-sponsored discrimination and difficulties in exercising their religion and culture, including the study of the Hebrew language;
Whereas, in 1964, the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry (AJCSJ) was founded to spearhead a national campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry;
Whereas, in 1964, the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry was founded to demand freedom for Soviet Jewry;
Whereas, in 1964, thousands of college students rallied on behalf of Soviet Jewry in front of the United Nations;
Whereas Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War inspired Soviet Jews to intensify their efforts to win the right to emigrate;
Whereas, in 1967, the Soviet Union began an anti-Zionist propaganda campaign in the state-controlled mass media and a crackdown on Jewish autonomy, galvanizing a mass advocacy movement in the United States;
Whereas the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry was founded in 1970 as a coalition of local grassroots `action' councils supporting freedom for the Jews of the Soviet Union;
Whereas, in 1971, the severe sentences, including death, meted out to 9 Jews from Leningrad who attempted to hijack a plane to flee the Soviet Union spurred worldwide protests;
Whereas, in 1971, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ) succeeded the AJCSJ;
Whereas, in 1971, mass emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union began;
Whereas, in 1974, Senator Henry `Scoop' Jackson and Congressman Charles Vanik successfully attached an amendment to the Trade Act of 1974 linking trade benefits, now known as Normal Trade Relations, to the emigration and human rights practices of Communist countries, including the Soviet Union;
Whereas, in 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed into law the Jackson-Vanik amendment to the Trade Act of 1974, after both houses of Congress unanimously backed it;
Whereas, in 1978, the Congressional Wives for Soviet Jewry was founded;
Whereas, in 1982, President Ronald Reagan signed into law House Joint Resolution 373 (subsequently Public Law 97-157), expressing the sense of the Congress that the Soviet Union should cease its repressive actions against those who seek the freedom to emigrate or to practice their religious or cultural traditions, drawing special attention to the hardships and discrimination imposed upon the Jewish community in the Soviet Union;
Whereas, in 1983, the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus was founded to advance the cause of human rights;
Whereas, in 1984, the Congressional Coalition for Soviet Jews was founded;
Whereas, on December 6, 1987, an estimated 250,000 people demonstrated on the National Mall in Washington, DC, in support of freedom for Soviet Jews, in advance of a summit between Mikhail Gorbachev and President Reagan;
Whereas, in 1989, the former Soviet Union opened its doors to allow the millions of Soviet Jews who had been held as virtual prisoners within their own country to leave the country;
Whereas, in 1991, the Supreme Soviet passed a law that codified the right of every citizen of the Soviet Union to emigrate, precipitating massive emigration by Jews, primarily to Israel and the United States;
Whereas, since 1975, more than 500,000 refugees from areas of the former Soviet Union--many of them Jews, evangelical Christians, and Catholics--have resettled in the United States;
Whereas the Soviet Jewish community in the United States today numbers between 750,000 and 1,000,000, though some estimates are twice as high;
Whereas Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union have greatly enriched the United States in areas as diverse as business, professional sports, the arts, politics, and philanthropy;
Whereas, in 1992, Congress passed the Freedom Support Act, making aid for the 15 independent states of the former Soviet Union contingent on progress toward democratic self-government and respect for human rights;
Whereas, since 2000, more than 400 independent Jewish cultural organizations and 30 Jewish day schools have been established in the independent states of the former Soviet Union; and
Whereas the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and its partner organizations continue to work to promote the safety and human rights of Jews in the independent states of the former Soviet Union: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the significant contributions of American citizens of Jewish descent who emigrated from the Soviet Union;
(2) commemorates the 40th anniversary of the mass movement for freedom by and on behalf of Soviet Jewry;
(3) commemorates the 20th anniversary of the December 6, 1987, Freedom Sunday rally, a major landmark of Jewish activism in the United States; and
(4) condemns incidents of anti-Semitism, xenophobia, and religious persecution wherever they may occur in the independent states of the former Soviet Union and encourages the development and deepening of democracy, religious freedom, rule of law, and human rights in those states.Calendar No. 510110th CONGRESS1st SessionS. RES. 367RESOLUTIONCommemorating the 40th anniversary of the mass movement for Soviet Jewish freedom and the 20th anniversary of the Freedom Sunday rally for Soviet Jewry on the National Mall.
November 15, 2007Reported without amendment
U.S. Congress - Text of S.Res.367 as Agreed to Senate A resolution commemorating the 40th anniversary of the mass movement for Soviet Jewish ...
