IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION 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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 18, 2007 

Mr. WAXMAN (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. BERMAN, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. 

WEXLER, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. HONDA, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. NADLER, and Mr. ACKERMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and 

Government Reform 

RESOLUTION 

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. 

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; 


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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, 


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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 


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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 

1 Resolved, That Congress recognizes the 20th anniver2 sary of the Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews in 

3 Washington, DC, which embodies the American principle 

4 of citizen activism for the greater good. 

Æ 


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