[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 73 (Wednesday, May 25, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E953]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICAN JEWISH HERITAGE MONTH

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 25, 2011

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in honor of American Jewish 
Heritage Month. For more than 350 years, members of the Jewish faith 
have lived in this country, built this country and contributed to this 
country.
  From colonial days to the present, the course of American history 
would be profoundly different if it were not for the contributions of 
American Jews. The early settlers arrived in New York in 1654 and won 
official toleration, despite the objections of Peter Stuyvesant, 
marking America as a place where Jews would be free to practice their 
religion. America's toleration was unusual. Elsewhere in the world the 
Spanish Inquisition was in full swing; Italian Jews were confined to 
ghettos; Jews had not yet officially been readmitted to England or 
France; and they were banned from Scandinavia. Toleration became 
accepted practice in New England and the South as well, and Jewish 
communities began to form in many parts of America. A Jewish doctor, 
Samuel Nunez Ribiero, kept the settlers of the new colony of Georgia 
from being ravaged by malaria in 1733, which persuaded the founder of 
the colony, James Edward Oglethorpe, to allow Jewish people to settle 
in Savannah.
  Jews played an important role in the Revolutionary War and the 
establishment of the fledgling United States. From the merchants who 
carried supplies and arms to Hayim Solomon who helped bankroll the new 
government at a crucial time, Jews contributed to the birth of our 
country. And, as the country grew, Jews found opportunities and freedom 
in the new towns and cities that were built in the West.
  Jews began to immigrate to the United States in large numbers during 
the 1880s. And their language, customs and stories were incorporated 
into American culture. What could be more American than nosh on a bagel 
while watching a Woody Allen movie? Thanks to comedians like Milton 
Berle, Jack Benny, Fanny Brice, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Neil Simon, 
Phil Silvers, Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr, Sacha Baron Cohen, Gilda 
Radner and thousands of others, American comedy often seems to have a 
distinctly Jewish humor.
  Jews have made their mark in American literature, music and the arts. 
Saul Bellow, Herman Wouk and Michael Chabon are among the 14 percent of 
Pulitzer Prize winners in literature who are Jewish; Barbara Tuchman, 
Studs Terkel and Jared Diamond are among the 51 percent of Pulitzer 
Prize winners for non-fiction who are Jewish. From Leonard Bernstein to 
Aaron Copeland, some of America's most famous composers are Jewish. And 
many of the most influential artists of the last 100 years have been 
Jewish, including Man Ray, Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko.
  Jewish scientists have expanded our knowledge of the world and have 
helped discover new cures. From Albert Einstein to Jonas Salk, Carl 
Sagan to Mark Zuckerberg, Jews have used their scientific knowledge to 
change our understanding.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues in celebrating Jewish 
American Heritage Month, and the myriad of ways in which Jewish 
Americans have influenced our lives.

                          ____________________