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Congressional Record—House H6605 June 18, 2007 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H6605 Mr. KUCINICH. Then I yield 30 sec- cist dictators made bold claims of impending students circled the Embassy of the Soviet onds to my friend from New Jersey violence and we ignored them to our own Union to the sound of shofars, then moved on (Mr. ROTHMAN). peril. to the Department of State for a vigorous Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, the The world should not ignore these words of discussion, and finally arrived in Lafayette Park in front of the White House for a rally gentleman is afraid that because at an aggression. Today, we call on UN member na- addressed by Members of Congress and the anti-Zionism ‘‘World without Zionism’’ tions to call out Ahmadinejad, to condemn reading of an Appeal to Conscience; conference, Ahmadinejad said, ‘‘Wipe these statements, and to work together to pre- Whereas Birnbaum and his student steer- Israel off the map.’’ We are quibbling vent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. ing committee organized approximately thir- over whether he said on another occa- The SPEAKER pro tempore. The ty events in SSSJ’s first two years to awak- sion, wipe the Israel regime, Zionist re- question is on the motion offered by en the Jewish community in New York and gime off the map and on a third occa- the gentlewoman from California (Ms. beyond to the plight of Soviet Jews; Whereas Birnbaum’s important New York sion said, the world would soon see the WATSON) that the House suspend the marches and rallies in the 1960s were the in- destruction of Israel. The gentleman rules and agree to the concurrent reso- strumental precursors of the great Soli- thinks there is ambiguity there. lution, H. Con. Res. 21, as amended. darity events of the 1970s organized by the This is a regime in Iran sending The question was taken. Greater New York Conference on Soviet troops and equipment, killing our sol- The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the Jewry under the direction of Malcolm diers in Iraq, building nuclear weapons, opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being Hoenlein, the founding director; threatening to kill our number one in the affirmative, the ayes have it. Whereas Birnbaum has testified before ally, the State of Israel, and he doesn’t Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, committees of the House of Representatives want the U.N. to look into it to con- on that I demand the yeas and nays. and the Senate and the Helsinki Commis- demn them? I think the gentleman is The yeas and nays were ordered. sion; The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- Whereas Birnbaum advocated utilizing eco- wrong. nomic leverage at a Congressional hearing as Mr. KUCINICH. If, in fact, that’s ant to clause 8 of rule XX and the early as May 1965; what he said, then of course the U.N. Chair’s prior announcement, further Whereas Birnbaum worked closely in the should look into it. But I think we proceedings on this question will be early 1970s with Senator Henry Jackson, who should look into whether or not he said postponed. introduced legislation linking United States that. And again, I offered to submit, f trade benefits and capital flow to the Soviet but was denied a unanimous consent, Union with increased Soviet emigration; HONORING THE LIFE OF JACOB the text of his speech, and a trans- Whereas Birnbaum was one of the most BIRNBAUM persistent of those individuals who fought lation by Nazila Fathi in the New York Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I move to for passage of the Jackson-Vanik amend- Times Tehran Bureau of the speech. ment to allow Soviet Jews and other East This is from the New York Times. And suspend the rules and agree to the reso- European Jews to escape oppression and reli- they certainly have never been accused lution (H. Res. 137) honoring the life gious, cultural, and communal extinction in of any kind of propaganda against and six decades of public service of the Soviet bloc; Israel. Jacob Birnbaum and especially his Whereas Birnbaum conducted a number of So I would say that it is important commitment freeing Soviet Jews from campaigns with Presidents and Congress for for us to look at this. And I don’t think religious, cultural, and communal ex- the protection of Soviet Jewish underground it is an unreasonable request that we tinction, as amended. self-education groups and organized a delega- The Clerk read the title of the resolu- tion of the Synagogue Council of America to should look at exactly what this person meet with the Deputy Secretary of State in said so we will know what the appro- tion. 1985; priate course of action is to take. The text of the resolution is as fol- Whereas Birnbaum received the Prophet in I stand for peace. I stood before this lows: Our Time Award in 1974 on the tenth anni- Congress and challenged the war H. RES. 137 versary of the SSSJ; against Iraq when very few people were Whereas Jacob Birnbaum was born on De- Whereas Birnbaum received the Yeshiva willing to do that because I questioned cember 10, 1926, and December 10 is Inter- University Community Service Award in 1988 whether or not Iraq did have weapons national Human Rights Day; and the Freedom Award in 2004 from the Whereas Birnbaum performed relief work Manhattan Beach Jewish Center; of mass destruction. I am questioning Whereas Birnbaum was honored in 2004 by whether or not this person is trying to with victims of Nazi and Soviet totali- tarianism from 1946 through 1951, then the Conference of Presidents of Major Amer- destroy Israel. If he is, then I certainly worked with the disintegrating Jewish com- ican Jewish Organizations on the 40th anni- support my friend’s concerns. munities of North Africa in the mid-1950s versary of the initiation of the Soviet Jewry Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, and early 1960s; movement; I am a proud cosponsor of to day’s resolution Whereas, in 1964, Birnbaum moved to New Whereas during the 1990s Birnbaum was en- which calls for the United Nations to take ac- York and founded the Student Struggle for gaged in a number of interventions in the tion to uphold one of its most important con- Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) on April 27 of that year; former Soviet republics of Central Asia, es- Whereas four days later Birnbaum orga- pecially Uzbekistan; and ventions—the Convention of Genocide. With Whereas Birnbaum continues to assist in- the violence of the Holocaust just a few years nized approximately 1,000 students who marched for four hours in front of the Mis- stitutions for the Jewish education of former behind them, the members of the United Na- sion to the United Nations of the Soviet Soviet Jews as part of his ‘‘Let My People tions in 1948 established a convention to pre- Union on May 1, 1964, to begin the direct ac- Know’’ campaign: Now, therefore, be it vent such atrocities from ever happening tion public struggle for Soviet Jewry; Resolved, That the House of Representa- again. Whereas the SSSJ utilized nonviolent tives honors the life and six decades of public There is much talk at the UN about pre- methods, including marches, rallies, publica- service of Jacob Birnbaum and especially his venting war and genocide but unfortunately tion of extensive educational materials, and commitment to freeing Soviet Jews from re- there is little action. The Iranian President has meetings with government officials, to orga- ligious, cultural, and communal extinction. called for a UN member nation to be ‘‘wiped nize and activate students to take direct ac- The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursu- off the map.’’ Do we have any doubt that the tion in the cause of freeing Soviet Jews trapped behind the Iron Curtain, utilizing ant to the rule, the gentlewoman from UN would sanction the Israeli Prime Minister if the slogan ‘‘Let My People Go’’; California (Ms. WATSON) and the gen- the positions were reversed? Whereas, on April 4, 1965, Birnbaum orga- tlewoman from Florida (Ms. ROS- The Iranian president and the Ayatollahs’ nized the Jericho March, in which students LEHTINEN) each will control 20 minutes. supreme wish is the destruction of Israel and encircled the Soviet Mission and sounded The Chair recognizes the gentle- all her people. They have not tried to mask shofars from all around the building and pro- woman from California. this goal—they doubt the holocaust of the past ceeded to rally at the United Nations; and make plans for a holocaust of the future. Whereas, on April 12, 1965, petitions were GENERAL LEAVE Ahmadinejad has even gone as far as spec- presented at the United Nations’s Isaiah Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, I ask Wall; unanimous consent that all Members ulating that the collateral damage of attacking Whereas Birnbaum organized a Jericho Israel with nuclear weapons would be worth Ride to Washington, DC, on May 20, 1965, may have 5 legislative days to revise the cost to the Muslim world. For a regime where he and the first SSSJ chairman Rabbi and extend their remarks and include that is developing nuclear capabilities, these Shlomo Riskin met with senior Soviet dip- extraneous material on the resolution are truly dangerous words. In the 1930’s fas- lomat Anatoly Myshkov, and thereafter the under consideration. VerDate Aug 31 2005 03:24 Jun 19, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 7634 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\K18JN7.084 H18JNPT1 hmoore on PRODPC68 with HMHOUSE H6606 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE June 18, 2007 The SPEAKER pro tempore.
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