[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 166 (Tuesday, October 30, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H12203-H12206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING ANNIVERSARIES OF MASS MOVEMENT FOR SOVIET JEWISH FREEDOM 
               AND FREEDOM SUNDAY RALLY FOR SOVIET JEWRY

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
resolution (H. Res. 759) recognizing 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 Mall in Washington, DC.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 759

       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, Soviets launched 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, in 1970, the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry 
     was founded as a coalition of local grass-roots ``action'' 
     councils supporting freedom for Jews of the Soviet Union;
       Whereas, in 1971, the severe sentences, including death, 
     meted out to nine Leningrad Jews 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 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed into law 
     the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade Act of 1974, 
     prohibiting the extension of trade benefits to countries that 
     limit emigration, and otherwise infringe basic human rights;
       Whereas, in 1978, the Congressional Wives for Soviet Jewry 
     was founded;
       Whereas, in 1982, President Ronald Reagan enacted Public 
     Law 97-157, expressing the sense of the Congress that the 
     Soviet Union should cease its repressive actions against 
     those individuals 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, in 1987, an estimated 250,000 people demonstrated 
     on the Mall in Washington before the start of the Reagan-
     Gorbachev summit, in an unprecedented rally that helped give 
     the issue added visibility on the national scene;
       Whereas, in 1989, the Soviet Union opened its doors to the 
     millions of Soviet Jews who had been held as virtual 
     prisoners within their own country;
       Whereas, in 1991, the Supreme Soviet passed a law that 
     codified the right of every Soviet citizen to emigrate, 
     precipitating massive emigration by Jews from the Soviet 
     Union, primarily to Israel and the United States;
       Whereas the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the 
     Soviet Union and former Soviet republics have greatly 
     enriched their new-found homes 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 fifteen former Soviet republics contingent 
     on progress towards the implementation of a democratic 
     system, 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 former Soviet Union, giving rise to a 
     renewal of Jewish life;
       Whereas NCSJ and its partners have performed exceptionally 
     by continually promoting the safety and security of Jews in 
     the former Soviet Union;
       Whereas continued acts of anti-Semitism and xenophobia in 
     the former Soviet Union are reprehensible and respect for 
     democracy, religious freedom, and human rights in the former 
     Soviet republics needs promotion and strengthening; and
       Whereas it is the 40th anniversary of the mass movement for 
     freedom by and on behalf of Soviet Jewry: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That Congress recognizes the 20th anniversary of 
     the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews in Washington, DC, 
     which embodies the American principle of citizen activism for 
     the greater good.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Missouri (Mr. Clay) and the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the House Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform, I am pleased to join my colleagues in 
the consideration of H. Res. 759, a bill that recognizes 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 Mall in 
Washington, D.C. H. Res. 759, which has 57 cosponsors, was introduced 
by Representative Henry Waxman on October 18, 2007. House Resolution 
759 was reported from the Oversight Committee on October 23, 2007, by 
voice vote.
  Mr. Speaker, the former Soviet Union today has the third-largest 
Jewish community in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the 
Russian Empire was home to the world's largest Jewish community. In the 
late 19th century, over 5 million Jews lived as a persecuted minority 
in Czarist Russia. This indifference towards Jews continued throughout 
the 20th century under the leadership of Secretary General Joseph 
Stalin and Prime Minister Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union.
  In the mid-1960s, Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin was reported to have 
said ``the road is open and no problem exists'' for Soviet Jews who 
might want to leave for Israel. This remark sparked an increase in the 
efforts of Jews to leave the Soviet Union and helped initiate 
international efforts to facilitate their mass movement from Soviet 
Russia.
  In 1967, in response to earlier Soviet Jewry advocacy efforts, 
Russian authorities allowed some Jewish citizens to leave for family 
reunification in Israel. Due to the lack of diplomatic relations 
between Israel and the Soviet Union, most emigres traveled to Vienna 
where Israeli authorities flew them to Israel. By March 1976, the 
majority of emigres who left on visas for Israel chose to resettle in 
the United States and other Western countries.

[[Page H12204]]

  Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague Representative Waxman for seeking 
to recognize 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 Mall in Washington, D.C., and urge the swift 
passage of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my fellow Members of Congress in 
recognizing 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 Mall in Washington, D.C.
  As with many other peoples of faith, Jews suffered under the 
oppressive yoke of communism in the Soviet Union. Their struggles 
inspired American Jews to establish the American Jewish Conference on 
Soviet Jewry and the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry in 1964 in order 
to campaign on behalf of their fellow Soviet brethren.
  After the Six-Day War in 1967, the Soviets intensified the 
persecution of the Jewish community through state-controlled media and 
by reducing Jewish autonomy. Soon a mass exodus, a mass emigration of 
Jews from the Soviet Union began. These developments helped to 
galvanize the advocacy movement within the U.S.
  Over the following years, this mass advocacy movement helped spur the 
U.S. Government to achieve much. Perhaps most notably, in 1975 
President Ford signed into law the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to the Trade 
Act of 1974. This amendment prohibited the extension of trade benefits 
to countries that limited immigration and otherwise infringed human 
rights. It was drafted specifically with the plight of Soviet Jews in 
mind. Later, President Reagan signed a law drawing attention to the 
hardships imposed on the Jewish community of the Soviet Union.
  In 1987, an estimated 250,000 people demonstrated on the Mall before 
a Reagan-Gorbachev summit. This rally increased the issue's national 
visibility. Partly due to these efforts, the Soviet Union finally 
opened the doors of emigration to its Jewish population in 1989. Two 
years later, the Soviet Government codified the right of every Soviet 
citizen to emigrate, prompting massive flows of Jews to Israel and to 
the United States.
  This serves as an example of the great American tradition of citizen 
involvement for the greater good. I ask my colleagues to join me in 
support of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman).
  Mr. WAXMAN. Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, on December 7, 1987, there 
were 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., to rally for the 
plight of Soviet Jews. I vividly remember participating in that rally, 
which took place on the eve of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit. It was a 
major turning point that helped compel the Soviet Union to open its 
doors for the millions of Soviet Jewish emigres who had been held as 
virtual prisoners within their own country.
  I think back to congressional delegations to the Soviet Union where I 
met with Jewish refusniks who were suffering under communist 
repression. These brave dissidents were blacklisted from their jobs, 
socially ostracized and, in some cases, jailed, only because of their 
desire to practice their religion and live in freedom.
  I remember meeting with young couples in and around Moscow who called 
us their lifeline. They were so desperate about their circumstances. 
They said our visits gave them hope that they were not forgotten, that 
they would one day be free.
  When the Iron Curtain fell, many of these families came to the United 
States to live the American Dream of religious liberty and personal 
freedom. Over 1 million more resettled in Israel. The historic human 
rights campaign to free Soviet Jewry was built on decades of activism. 
Launched in the 1960s by groups like the American Jewish Conference on 
Soviet Jewry and the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, it galvanized 
human rights leaders around the United States and the world. The 
movement helped build the momentum for the adoption of the Helsinki 
Accords and the passage of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which, for the 
first time, linked trade policy and human rights.
  Here in Congress, we founded the Congressional Coalition for Soviet 
Jews, and my wife Janet helped organize and found the Congressional 
Wives for Soviet Jewry. Other organizations, like the National 
Conference on Soviet Jewry and the Union of Councils for Soviet Jewry 
are still at work today fighting anti-Semitism and safeguarding the 
religious freedom of Jews in Russia and other parts of the former 
Soviet Union.
  Today, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Freedom Rally with 
pride in the history and accomplishments of the effort to free Soviet 
Jews. Let it serve as a lasting reminder that we have an obligation to 
sustain the fight against political and religious repression wherever 
it exists.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this resolution.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, I continue to reserve the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from 
Nevada (Ms. Berkley).
  Ms. BERKLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his 
leadership on this important issue.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and in support of 
the human rights movements worldwide. This movement for Soviet Jewry 
demonstrated that a small group of people who are dedicated and 
committed to principle can make an enormous difference, not only in 
their home countries but throughout the world.
  Just this past weekend, I attended a meeting in Philadelphia where 
Natan Sharansky spoke. Sharansky has been a hero to so many of us in 
the United States in his struggle for freedom from Soviet oppression. 
He and his fellow refusniks embody the spirit of determination and 
unbelievable courage to stand up for human rights and freedom and 
demand that Soviet Jews be able to leave the Soviet Union and immigrate 
to Israel or the United States or other countries of their choice.
  Sharansky told us the movement for Soviet Jewry not only freed him 
and other refusniks, but that it set in motion the process that 
ultimately brought down the Soviet Union. By demanding human rights for 
some, we hastened the demise of one of the most repressive, most 
dictatorial regimes in history.
  This movement demonstrated that human rights questions do not exist 
in a vacuum separate from larger questions of global politics or trade. 
We have a tremendous capacity to be global leaders by tying questions 
of human rights to other issues that we deal with in the international 
arena, whether in trade or the environment or immigration policy. While 
we do business with other countries, we should not, we must not, turn a 
blind eye to human rights abuses. It is as true today as it was 40 
years ago.
  While human rights are trampled on in so many parts of the world, 
from Darfur, North Korea, to the Arab world, we look to the movement 
for Soviet Jews as a shining example of how we as a country can succeed 
in bringing human rights issues to light through citizen activism for 
the greater good.
  Mr. Speaker, when I was in Philadelphia listening to Natan Sharansky, 
they showed films of the March on Washington for Soviet Jewry, and it 
put me in mind of the fact that Members like Mr. Waxman who were here 
20 years ago were in the forefront of this fight.
  As a point of personal privilege, the next speaker on our side of the 
aisle, Mr. Eliot Engel, Congressman from New York, before he was a 
Member of Congress, he was on that stage fighting for the basic human 
rights and dignity of Soviet Jews and human rights worldwide, as was 
our very good friend Jerry Nadler.
  Mr. Speaker, with that, I yield back, and I thank the gentleman once 
again for bringing this to the floor of the House for a vote.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Mr. Speaker, we have no other speakers on this side, so I 
will simply urge support for this resolution and yield back the balance 
of my time.

[[Page H12205]]

  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Engel).
  Mr. ENGEL. I thank my friend from Missouri, and I rise in strong 
support of H. Res. 759, which recognizes 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 Mall in Washington, D.C.
  The gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) is so right when she says 
that these rallies inspired the cause of human rights all over the 
world. And as we fight for human rights all over the world, we must 
continue to fight for human rights wherever bad things raise their ugly 
heads.

                              {time}  1615

  For decades, Jews in the Soviet Union faced serious restrictions on 
their right to practice their faith. In response, a campaign developed 
in the United States and around the world to pressure the Soviets to 
end the abuses and permit their Jewish population to emigrate. In 1964, 
the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry was founded to spearhead 
a national campaign on behalf of Soviet Jewry. Israel's victory in the 
1967 6-Day War inspired Soviet Jews to intensify their efforts to win 
the right to emigrate to Israel and other places, but the Soviets 
followed with an anti-Zionist propaganda campaign in the state-
controlled mass media and a crackdown on Jewish autonomy.
  A key event in the campaign to free the Soviet Jews occurred in 1982 
when President Reagan enacted Public Law 97-157, expressing the sense 
of the Congress that the Soviet Union should cease its repressive 
actions against those individuals who seek the freedom to emigrate or 
to practice their religious or cultural traditions. This law drew 
special attention to the hardships and discrimination imposed upon the 
Jewish community in the Soviet Union.
  After so many years of captivity, the Supreme Soviet passed a law in 
1991 that codified the right of every Soviet citizen to emigrate, 
precipitating massive emigration by Jews from the Soviet Union, 
primarily to Israel and the United States. The hundreds of thousands of 
immigrants from the Soviet Union and former Soviet republics have 
greatly enriched their new-found homes in areas as diverse as business, 
science, the arts, politics, and philanthropy.
  As Ms. Berkley mentioned, I was proud to be part of the effort to 
liberate the Jews of the Soviet Union and remember the historic Freedom 
Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews in Washington, DC 20 years ago before I 
was a Member of Congress. I remember meeting Natan, then Anatoly 
Sharansky, at the gathering of approximately 250,000 people prior to 
the start of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit. This event helped increase 
the awareness of the plight of Soviet Jews throughout the world. 
Earlier, I demonstrated in front of the Soviet mission to the U.N. in 
New York in an effort to demonstrate how deeply I felt about religious 
freedom and the right of the Jews of the Soviet Union to emigrate.
  In conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 759 and 
remember the campaign to liberate the Jews of the former Soviet Union. 
And, again, may we have many, many more resolutions like this to help 
all oppressed people all over the world.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Nadler).
  Mr. NADLER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 759, introduced by the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Waxman), marking 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 
Washington, DC.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1967 the plight of Soviet Jews was severe and largely 
unknown to the outside world. State-sponsored anti-Zionism and a 
widespread culture of anti-Semitism made daily life difficult for the 
millions of Jews living in the Soviet Union. Worst of all, these Jews 
had no right to leave the country for more welcoming parts of the 
world, namely, Israel and the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, in answer to this reality, 1967 saw the rise of an 
organized movement to rescue the Soviet Jews, the Mass Movement for 
Soviet Jewish Freedom. Looking back 40 years later, we can all chart 
the profound success of that movement which lifted hundreds of 
thousands of people out of persecution and poverty and into freedom. 
Beginning in 1971, this movement made possible the mass exodus of 
Soviet Jews from the Soviet Union to the shores of Israel, the United 
States and elsewhere.
  Mr. Speaker, I am gratified to represent the largest community of 
former Soviet emigres in the United States, and I have the great 
fortune of knowing many of those leaders and entrepreneurs who owe 
their livelihoods and freedom to the success of that movement organized 
in 1967.
  The former Soviet Jewish community of Brooklyn, New York, from 
Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Uzbekistan and elsewhere has returned the 
humanity and kindness shown to them years before in their new capacity 
as industrious, law-abiding, and dynamic members of American society. 
In neighborhoods like Brighton Beach, Coney Island and Bensonhurst, you 
can witness every day how hard they have worked in order to secure 
happiness for their families and how they strive to give back to the 
Nation that rescued them from persecution.
  Mr. Speaker, no discussion of this movement of Soviet Jews would be 
complete without mention of Jacob Birnbaum, an exceptional leader and 
human being who worked night and day to bring this issue to the 
forefront of our minds so many years ago. Earlier this year, I was very 
proud to introduce a resolution honoring Mr. Birnbaum, and I am pleased 
that Congress passed it, thereby bringing official recognition to a 
leader who made an incalculable difference for the lives of many 
thousands of Soviet Jews and others throughout the world.
  In addition to the courageous work of Mr. Birnbaum, tribute ought to 
be paid to the other pioneers and national organizations who fought so 
strenuously for the liberation of Soviet Jews, people like Malcolm 
Hoenlein who is now executive vice president of the Conference of 
Presidents of American Jewish Organizations but who pioneered much of 
the work in the Soviet Jewish movement.
  I am pleased today to join with my colleagues to mark the 
accomplishments of the Soviet Jewry movement and to celebrate the 20th 
anniversary of the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews and the 40th 
anniversary of the founding of the movement to free Soviet Jews. I am 
proud to have been part of this movement beginning in the late 1960s in 
many marches and demonstrations and picketings of the Soviet embassy. I 
was here on the Mall 20 years ago.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, at this time we have no additional speakers. I 
urge my colleagues also to support the 40th anniversary of the Mass 
Movement for Soviet Jewish Freedom and the 20th anniversary of the 
Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jewry by unanimously adopting this 
resolution.
  Mr. WEXLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 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 Mall 
here in Washington. This mass advocacy movement formed following the 
anti-Zionist campaign launched by the Soviet government in 1967 and 
worked tirelessly for over two decades to gain Soviet Jews the freedom 
to emigrate from the Soviet Union, where they had been held as virtual 
prisoners since World War II.
  In 1987, on the eve of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit, more than 250,000 
people gathered in Washington to rally for the plight of Soviet Jews. 
This event was a major turning point in compelling the soviet 
government to open its doors for millions of Soviet Jewish emigres who 
were being held prisoner in their own country. Finally in 1991, the 
Supreme Soviet passed a law codifying the right of every Soviet citizen 
to emigrate, leading to a massive emigration by Jews from the Soviet 
Union, mostly to Israel and the United States.
  As a sponsor of House Resolution 759, I want to recognize these two 
anniversaries and praise the efforts of all the organizations involved 
in this important movement, including the American Jewish Conference on 
Soviet Jewry, the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, and the 
Congressional Coalition for Soviet Jews. These and many other 
organizations

[[Page H12206]]

were integral in securing freedom for Soviet Jews, and their work 
serves as an example for all who are seeking religious and political 
freedom around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, these two anniversaries are also a reminder about the 
ongoing struggle for religious freedom and the need to continue to 
battle against anti-Semitism, bigotry and discrimination wherever it 
occurs. The United States as the world's only superpower and oldest 
democracy has an obligation and a responsibility to continue to 
advocate for those individuals suffering at the hands of oppressive 
governments--whether it is in Darfur, Sudan or in Burma. Today, 
millions around the globe cling to the hope that one day they will be 
liberated and freed from oppression. To this end, Congress and the 
American people must remain steadfast in our determination to protect 
religious and human rights matching the willpower and vigilance of 
those who fought so hard for decades to liberate Soviet Jewry from the 
yoke of tyranny and repression.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay) that the House suspend the rules and 
agree to the resolution, H. Res. 759.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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