The reasons are clear: the Soviet authorities are depriving the Jews of the Soviet Union of their constitutionally guaranteed right to worship in their synagogues and to listen to the shofar. The Soviet Government continues to harass and persecute the Jews of the Soviet Union. subjecting them to a cultural genocide. The government refuses to grant them exit visas. publishes vitriolic antiSemitic literature in its press. confiscates Hebrew and Yiddish literature. arrests Jewish teachers. and. for those who have tried to emigrate. makes them lose their jobs and face the prospect of perpetual unemployment. In short. the Soviet Government is trying its hardest to permanently silence the Jews of Russia. a community of 2V2 million people. In the face of this alarming and terrible situation. I and my colleagues cannot afford to remain silent. We must raise our voices in protest and reaffirm our strong commitment to bringing closer to reality the dreams and aspirations of those Soviet Jews who want to emigrate. who want to live in Israel. who want to be able to hear a shofar and learn Hebrew. By this special order. we are voicing our abhorrence of the governmentinspired antiSemitism and our rejection of their efforts to deprive the Jews of the Soviet Union of one of those basic human rights dear to us all: freedom of religion. Mr. Speaker. the Soviet authorities can stifle the voices of dissent in the Jewish community in Russia. They can fire them from their jobs. incarcerate them in jails. slave labor camps. and mental institutions. confiscate their Hebrew and Yiddish books. and block them from emigrating to Israel and elsewhere. Yet the Jews there have not given up. and they continue to try to observe their religion and preserve the traditions of Judaism. I salute them on these brave and valiant efforts. and fervently hope that on the New Year they will hear the shofar and will be able to greet their friends with the traditional Jewish New Years greeting "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life with a Happy and Healthy New Year.".
Keywords matched
emigrate visas emigrating