[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 19, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E44]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REMARKS ON THE PASSING OF MICAH NAFTALIN, LEADER OF THE MOVEMENT TO AID 
                              SOVIET JEWRY

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 19, 2010

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Madam Speaker, as Co-Chairman of the 
Helsinki Commission I wish to mark the recent passing of Micah H. 
Naftalin, an enthusiastic leader of the grassroots movement on behalf 
of oppressed Jews in the Soviet Union. His dedicated work contributed 
significantly in advancing the cause of refuseniks denied their right 
to leave the U.S.S.R. During the dark days of the Cold War, Micah was 
an impassioned champion for human rights for members of the Jewish 
community and others, including political prisoners, in the Soviet 
Union.
  Micah was similarly unwavering in his commitment to combat anti-
Semitism and related violence, closely monitoring and reporting on 
developments in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He was 
appointed to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in 1982, later serving 
as acting director.
  For more than two decades Micah served as national director of the 
Union of Councils for Jews in the former Soviet Union. He worked 
closely with the Helsinki Commission to advance democracy, human rights 
and the rule of law in Russia and elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. 
In 1993, he served as a public member on the U.S. delegation to the 
annual meeting to review implementation of human rights commitments by 
signatories to the Helsinki Final Act. In 2007, he helped found the 
Coalition Against Hate, a consortium of human rights NGOs from Russia, 
Ukraine and Belarus united in their efforts to monitor hate crimes.
  Madam Speaker, I join Chairman Ben Cardin and others on the Helsinki 
Commission in expressing our condolences to Micah's family and his many 
friends.

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