E1856 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks October 12, 2001 percent of the previous year’s crop. While this Security Act accomplished this through making legislation to fully protect Grade’s works, H.R. was still good enough to enable Kansas to needed improvements in food assistance pro- 2971. lead the nation in wheat production, it resulted grams by giving states greater flexibility, doing I ask unanimous consent that the full text of in a production value decrease of nearly $30 away with unnecessary barriers to participa- the Rackman/Wagner essay be printed at this million from the previous year. Corn produc- tion, and increasing assistance to working point. tion was down by 4 million bushels from 1999, families, or those individuals known as the PHILO-SEMITISM IN THE WORK OF THE POLISH and sorghum grain production was down 27 ‘‘working poor.’’ Under this plan, individual NOBEL LAUREATE CZESLAW MILOSZ: HE percent, though I am pleased to report to my states will be able to provide six months of PAYS TRIBUTE TO colleagues that Kansas did retain its position transitional food stamp benefits for families Numerous very interested reviews of as the number one sorghum grain production leaving the Temporary Assistance for Needy Czeslaw Milosz’s newly published book, state in the nation. Families program. It includes incentives for Milosz’s ABC’s inspired us to read it. The The difficulties facing the farmers and states to improve quality control systems and various, truly unexpected, unpredictable sub- ranchers of Kansas did not stop there. Soy- the Emergency Food Assistance Program will jects, alphabetically arranged as if encyclo- bean production was down nearly 40 percent receive an additional $40 million for com- pedia entries, may well require a volume of and was at its lowest level in five years. And comments. So we comment here on only one modity purchases. subject, conspicuously absent from this work hay production was down 13 percent from Under this year’s Farm Bill, our willingness both as a subject and in spirit—anti-Semi- 1999. Mr. Speaker, these facts strongly sug- to help others is not confined to our own bor- tism. gest the need for a farm policy which con- ders. This legislation provides increased funds Czeslaw Milosz, a Polish nobleman, gives tinues current successful agricultural programs to transport U.S. producers’ surplus commod- as much attention and loving devotion to his and offers a balanced approach for addressing ities to the world’s developing nations. It also Jewish friends and acquaintances, subjects issues of important to those Americans who increases the cap on funds used to provide and issues, as Polish ones. The absence of the produce crops and livestock. It is time for Con- food assistance on a grant basis or on credit least trace of anti-Semitism in Milosz’s book is to us, as American , a revelation, for gress to step forward and demonstrate our terms to struggling countries. Additionally, it corroborates the views of the great Jewish commitment to the men and women who feed funding for the Foreign Market Development writer, the poet and novelist Chaim Grade, our Nation. Program is increased by $7 million per year originally, like Milosz, from Vilna, who said There are numerous reasons why I will vote over its current level. This program is an effec- that in anti-Semitism was mainly for the Farm Security Act of 2001. I support tive approach to acquiring new foreign cus- among the masses—evidently under the in- this legislation because it offers essential in- tomers for American producers and new mar- fluence of the Church of pre-Vatican II— come support to farmers and ranchers, thus kets for American crops and livestock. Recent whereas the Polish aristocracy and intelli- guaranteeing a safe, affordable, and depend- Department of Agriculture figures indicate that gentsia, with rare exceptions, were over- able food supply for the and whelmingly philo-Semitic. Indeed, Chaim in 1980, the United States held a 24 percent Grade wrote a poem of homage to the great- many parts of the world. The American people share of world agricultural markets. Now, that est poet of Poland, Adam Mickiewicz, fa- are truly a blessed and fortunate people con- figure has dropped to nearly 18 percent. I be- mous as a philo-Semite, calling him ‘‘the sidering that we spend only 11 cents of every lieve this bill improves the ability of our pro- conscience of Poland.’’ dollar we earn on food. In other nations that ducers to compete. Chaim Grade is a master of utmost objec- figure may be as high as fifty cents on the dol- The Farm Security Act of 2001 is a fair and tivity, well aware of the horrors of anti-Sem- lar. balanced bill which enjoys the support of agri- itism, for which reason in his Lamentations It is not just the worker on the farm or ranch culture and conservation groups. It addresses about the program in Kielce, July 1946—not yet translated—he describes the Polish doc- who will feel the benefits of this Farm Bill. This critical farm program needs and also makes legislation provides much-needed resources to tor who at the funeral of the victims de- significant improvements to America’s con- nounces the murderous mob with the fiery the agricultural economy, which will guarantee servation, rural development, export pro- pathos of a Hebrew prophet. It is the very the continued viability of the food and fiber motion, nutrition and research programs. It same doctor, a devout Catholic, who rescued sector where nearly one-fifth of America’s civil- fully complies with the budget approved by more than twenty Jews from the Nazis, hid- ian workforce is employed. Mr. Speaker, by Congress earlier this year and meets our ing them in his house, again as described by supporting production on our farms and WTO obligations. I commend the Chairman Chaim Grade in his acclaimed philosophical ranches, we are ensuring that domestic agri- and the Committee for their work on this Farm Dialogue, My War With Hersh Rassayner, the culture remains robust and the job market in complete text of which, edited and revised by Bill and I strongly encourage my colleagues to Chaim Grade himself, has just been trans- America’s food and fiber industry is strong. vote for it. I heard from many of my constituents back lated into English. Scholar agree—and f among them Professor Emeritus Millon R. in Kansas regarding the need for additional Konvitz of Cornell University—that the Phil- conservation in this year’s Farm Bill. I am ESSAY BY EMANUEL osophical Dialogue of Chaim Grade is indeed pleased to tell them that we have considerably RACKMAN AND STEPHEN WAGNER the Book of Job on and that, increased funding for conservation programs. like the Book of Job, it belongs ‘‘among Jew- This legislation contains an average of $1.285 HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL ish writings that are considered sacred . . . which in the Hebrew Scriptures are wisely billion per year for Environmental Quality In- OF placed in the part known simply as centives Programs, plus an additional fund of IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES $60 million per year to address water issues. writings.’’ Chaim Grade attended the funeral Thursday, October 11, 2001 of the victims of the pogrom of Kielce with The bill added 5.7 million acres to the Con- Antek Yitzhak Zuckerman, one of the fore- servation Reserve Program, which is 2.8 mil- Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call atten- most leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, lion acres above the currently authorized acre- tion to a powerful essay by Rabbi Emanuel who said that ‘‘while it took one Pole to be- age. It adds 1.5 million new acres to the Wet- Rackman of Bar Ilan University and Stephen tray one hundred Jews, it took one hundred lands Reserve Program. It authorizes $25 mil- Wagner of Bar Ilan University entitled, ‘‘Philo- Poles to save one Jew, and the Poles who lion for the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Pro- Semitism in the Work of the Polish Nobel Lau- were saving Jews are the glory of mankind.’’ gram, an amount that increase to $50 million reate Czeslaw Milosz: He Pays Tribute to Chaim Grade’s works reflect this truth. by the year 2011. Finally, our conservation ef- Jewish Literature.’’ According to the article, No doubt, it is Chaim Grade’s absolute ob- jectivity and utmost spiritual and intellec- forts are augmented by the implementation of while there has been anti-Semitism among the tual honesty that inspired Czeslaw Milosz, the Grasslands Reserve Program which allows Polish masses, the Polish aristocracy and the spiritual and literary heir of Mickiewicz, up to 2 million acres to be preserved as grass- intelligencia ‘‘were overwhelmingly philo-Se- to devote to him a chapter of homage in lands. Mr. Speaker, through the Farm Security mitic.’’ According to the essay, Milosz’s opin- Milosz’s ABC’s, where among other impor- Act, our commitment to conservation is strong- ion ‘‘corroborates the views of the great Jew- tant comments, he reports what a Jewish au- er than ever. ish writer, the poet and novelist Chaim Grade, thority should have reported a long time This legislation also reflects America’s com- originally, like Milosz, from Vilna . . .’’ ago: The Nobel Prize for Isaac Bashevis Sing- mitment to the less fortunate in our society For several years, I have been striving to er was cause for violent controversies among -speaking New York Jews . . . Above who need a helping hand. Through the efforts protect the works of Chaim Grade, many of all, . . . in the opinion of the majority of the of the Ag Committee, we have simplified the whose writings were lost due to the complex- disputants, Grade was a much better writer federal food stamp program to guarantee that ities Grade faced by the copyright laws after than Singer, but little translated into needy families throughout our nation have bet- he came to the United States following World English, which is why members of the Swed- ter access to America’s food supply. The Farm War II. I urge my colleagues to support my ish Academy had no access to his writings.

VerDate 112000 04:40 Oct 13, 2001 Jkt 089060 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A11OC8.022 pfrm13 PsN: E12PT1 October 12, 2001 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1857 Singer gained fame, according to this opin- soup—and chickens—and became a devoted Saliman, Sanchez, Schultheis, Scott, Sin- ion, by dishonest means. Obsessively con- vegetarian . . . ‘‘So, in a very small way, I do clair, Smith, Snook, Spence, Stafford, cerned with sex, he created his own world of a favor for the chickens,’’ Singer said. ‘‘If I Stengel, Swenson, Tapia, Tochtrop, Veiga, Polish Jews which had nothing in common will ever a monument, chickens will do it Vigil, Webster, Weddig, White, William S., with reality—erotic, fantastic, filled with for me.’’ Williams T., Witwer, and Young; also Sen- apparitions, spirits, and dybbuks, as if that A New York Times reporter in 1978, the ators(s) Matsunaka, Thiebaut, Andrews, had been the quotidian reality of Jewish year of the shocking choice of the Nobel Perlmutter, Anderson, Arnold, Chlouber, towns. Grade was a real writer, faithful to prize for literature, Israel Shenker is known Dyer, Epps, Evans, Fitz-Gerald, Gordon, the reality he described, and he deserved the to have approached the late Eugene Rachlis, Hagedorn, Hanna, Hernandez, Hillman, Isgar, Nobel Prize . . . Grade was attentive to the the Editor-in-Chief of Bobbs-Merryl, then Lamborn, Linkhart, May, McElhany, accuracy of the details he recorded and has Chaim Grade’s English publisher (now it is Musgrave, Nichol, Owen, Phillips, Reeves, been compared with Balzac or Dickens. . . . Knopf); and asked, ‘‘what’s going on? Every- Takis, Tate, Taylor, Teck, and Windels. This statement by an authority of Czeslaw body says that it is your man who should CONCERNING THE EXPRESSION OF THE SENTI- Milosz’s stature, himself a Nobel laureate, is have gotten the prize.’’ All this explains why MENTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY REGARD- a very serious matter. Czeslaw Milosz goes Israel Shenker chose to end the definitive ING THE TERRORIST ATTACKS ON AMERICAN on to describe Jewish life in Poland as it was literary obituary of the Yiddish laureate SOIL ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. and Jewish-Polish relations as they were, all with the laureate’s own ‘‘chickens’’ words. Whereas, September 11, 2001, may live in as reflected in the works of Chaim Grade. It And all this proves the great truth of the infamy as the day on which more people lost is regrettable that he did not know what was words of the man who is America’s con- their lives or were injured on American soil very well known in Jewish literary circles, science, Abraham Lincoln, ‘‘you can fool all as the result of acts of terrorism than on any that Chaim Grade forbade all from nomi- of the people some of the time, you can fool other single day in history; and nating him for the Nobel prize, mostly be- some of the people all of the time, but you Whereas, On that day, terrorists forcibly cause his pre-world war II prophetic and po- cannot fool all of the people all of the time.’’ commandeered four commercial jet airliners etic visions of doom were recited like pray- Most importantly about this case is, of scheduled to fly routes from the east coast of ers both in the Vilna Ghetto and in Ausch- course, not just that the Yiddish laureate is the continental United States to the west witz, along with the poetry of the great Jew- a ‘‘pornographic writer,’’ as rightly de- coast; and ish poet Yitzhak Katznelson, who, together nounced by , nor that he is Whereas, Once in control of these aircraft, with his wife and sons, perished in Ausch- merely a ‘‘self-inflated, dully-repetitious, the terrorists implemented a dastardly, sui- witz, and of whose works very little has been barely second-rate fictionalist,’’ as rightly cidal plan of unparalleled proportions never rescued. All this was reported by the sur- stated by John Simon and colleagues, nor before carried out in this country or any- viving eyewitnesses in Yiddish and published that—as he himself knew and said—he is a where else in the world; and in Argentina, then in English in America— writer for ‘‘chickens,’’—whatever this may Whereas, The terrorists, piloting aircraft check the Jewish Book Annual—the Amer- mean. The most important is precisely as fully laden with highly flammable jet fuel and with total disregard for the lives of the ican Yearbook of Jewish Creativity 1990–1991, Czeslaw Milosz testifies, ‘‘he created his own passengers and crews on board or persons on 5751. Many people regretted Chaim Grade’s world of Polish Jews which had nothing in the ground, turned these jet airliners into decision, for it was taken advantage of by common with reality,’’ as the result of which flying weapons of mass destruction, each the writer unequivocally rejected by the he has misinformed and mislead people, pre- with tremendous explosive power, and aimed Jewish writers and readers for reasons well venting them from knowing the truth about their weapons at targets in explained by Czeslaw Milosz, who, by what- Jewish life in Eastern Europe, especially and Washington, D.C., our nation’s capital, ever means, got the prize and paraded the about Jewish-Polish relations. It is to be two of the most densely populated areas in foremost representative of Jewish literature, hoped that responsible people like John of the very Judaism. Thus, the issue is not our country; and Simon and Israel Shenker will appreciate Whereas, Two of these aircraft were inten- that Chaim Grade does not have the Nobel Czeslaw Milosz’s testimony, that they are Prize, but that, from the Jewish viewpoint, tionally flown directly into the World Trade aware that the Jewish people are no ‘‘chick- Center Towers in New York City, resulting the least suitable, the worst possible writer, ens,’’ that, prize or no prize, the Jewish peo- has it. in the terrifying, total destruction of two of ple have rejected the so-called Yiddish lau- the tallest buildings in the world, home to As Czeslaw Milosz rightly testifies, the reate, that his prize remains an incompre- Jewish people have the greatest appreciation some 50,000 workers and up to 100,000 visitors hensible insult, if not an outrage. And we daily and causing untold loss of life and in- for Chaim Grade, especially because of his cannot be too grateful to Czeslaw Milosz, the volumes of lamentations in poetry and prose jury to innocent, unarmed civilians; and Polish Nobel Laureate, for having made in Whereas, A third jetliner slammed into the about the Holocaust, for which Encyclopedia his ABC’s room also for Chaim Grade, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., headquarters Judaica reports, he is declared ‘‘the national Jewish master, who describes Jewish life in of our country’s national defense and the Jewish poet, as Bialik was in his day.’’ Eastern Europe as it really was, and, above largest office building in the world, also Chaim Grade’s volumes resurrect the life of all, the Jewish spirit such as it is, always causing extensive damage, loss of life, and East European Jewry, such as it truly was, and everywhere, beyond time and space, the injury to persons; and very much as stated by Czeslaw Milosz who, spirit of the Bible. Whereas, The fourth plane, presumably a Pole from Vilna, knew this life very well RABBI EMANUEL RACKMAN, aimed at targets in Washington, D.C., or pos- and is a most reliable witness. Chancellor, Bar Ilan University. sibly the presidential retreat at Camp David, Czeslaw Milosz’s report about the Jewish STEPHEN WAGNER, Esq., Maryland, crashed in rural Pennsylvania, attitude towards the Yiddish Nobel laureate Counsel, Bar Ilan University. killing all on board, including the pilot, may be corroborated by the following vi- United Airlines Captain Jason M. Dahl from gnette: Professor Saul Lieberman, the Dean f the Ken Caryl Valley area of Jefferson Coun- of the Jewish Theological Seminary of ty, Colorado, and flight attendant Kathryn America, heard the news from Sweden, and TRIBUTE TO THE COLORADO GENERAL ASSEMBLY Laborie, originally from Colorado Springs, exclaimed in utter disbelief, ‘‘What?!!! But he Colorado; and wrote only pornography!’’ When Bar-Ilan Whereas, Although we may never know for University in Israel was approached about a HON. BOB SCHAFFER sure, authorities believe, based on cell phone prize for the Yiddish laureate, he was re- OF COLORADO calls from at least two passengers on the jected so emphatically that the issue was fourth plane, Jeremy Glick and Mark Bing- IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES never raised again. ham, to relatives on the ground in New Jer- Czeslaw Milosz’s report is especially im- Thursday, October 11, 2001 sey and California, that passengers hero- portant in view of the general contempt for Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, it is an honor ically struggled with the hijackers and prob- the Yiddish Nobel laureate. Thus, less than a ably took actions that prevented this plane month before the incomprehensible news to rise today to express gratitude to the Colo- from reaching the terrorists’ planned target; from Sweden, John Simon wrote on Sep- rado General Assembly. I respectfully submit and tember 12, 1978, in The Esquire: International the following Colorado Joint Resolution for the Whereas, Many firefighters, law enforce- understanding is a delightful thing. How nice RECORD. ment personnel, military personnel, and oth- it was at the recent Pula Film Festival, in ers worked tirelessly to try to save as many Yugoslavia, between looking at films, to find HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 01S2–1002 lives as possible in these disasters, and it is a group of critics and scholars from various By Representative(s) Dean, Spradley, possible that more than three hundred fifty countries in agreement about the vast Grossman, Fritz, Cloer, Alexander, Bacon, police officers and firefighters in New York overratedness of that self-inflated, dully rep- Berry, Borodkin, Boyd, Cadman, Chavez, City lost their lives in the line of duty; and etitious, barely second-rate fictionalist Isaac Clapp, Coleman, Crane, Daniel, Decker, Whereas, The total loss of life and injuries Bashevis Singer. Fairbank, Garcia, Groff, Hefley, Hodge, resulting from these cowardly acts will be in And Israel Shenker concluded the defini- Hoppe, Jahn, Jameson, Johnson, Kester, the many thousands of people, if not more, tive literary obituary of the Yiddish laureate King, Larson, Lawrence, Lee, Mace, Madden, and, in the words of New York Mayor Ru- in August 1991, in the Book Review of the Marshall, Miller, Mitchell, Nunez, Paschall, dolph W. Giuliani, will be ‘‘more than any of New York Times: He shied from chicken Plant, Ragsdale, Rhodes, Rippy, Romanoff, us can bear’’; and

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