III 

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, and Mr. CASEY) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

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, statesponsored 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; 


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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; 


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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; 


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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 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the significant contributions of 

3 American citizens of Jewish descent who emigrated 

4 from the Soviet Union; 


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•SRES 367 IS 

1 (2) commemorates the 40th anniversary of the 

2 mass movement for freedom by and on behalf of So3 viet Jewry; 

4 (3) commemorates the 20th anniversary of the 

5 December 6, 1987, Freedom Sunday rally, a major 

6 landmark of Jewish activism in the United States; 

7 and 

8 (4) condemns incidents of anti-Semitism, xeno9 phobia, and religious persecution wherever they may 

10 occur in the independent states of the former Soviet 

11 Union and encourages the development and deep12 ening of democracy, religious freedom, rule of law, 

13 and human rights in those states. 

Æ 


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