[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 171 (Wednesday, December 4, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H7457-H7458]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TOURO SYNAGOGUE

  (Mr. CICILLINE asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. CICILLINE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 250th 
anniversary of the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, the oldest 
synagogue in America. Dedicated in 1763, the Touro Synagogue has been a 
monument to the history of religious tolerance in Rhode Island and the 
legacy of religious freedom in America.
  Before construction even began, the design of the building was 
conceived as a balance between European architecture and traditional 
Jewish worship. This synagogue became a symbol of the freedom to 
worship in peace widely

[[Page H7458]]

promoted across our new Nation in the 17th century and championed by 
Roger Williams.
  In 1790, in a letter reassuring the members of the Hebrew 
congregation of their right to the free exercise of religion, George 
Washington famously declared the values of our Nation at its start, 
pledging that the United States would give ``to bigotry no sanction, to 
persecution no assistance.''
  This weekend, it was my honor to attend the rededication of the Touro 
Synagogue, which remains a testament to the enduring freedoms of our 
Nation and the tradition of religious freedom that began in my home 
State and that is now deeply embedded in the American experience.

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