Speaker. I rise today to join with my constituents and the friends and family of the Milton and Shirley Gralla family as they come together to celebrate Shirley being awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Yeshiva University. Shirley Grallas story is that of a child of Eastern European Jewish immigrant parents who came to America. Through her many talents. keen insight and most compassionate nature. Shirley has succeeded in giving aid and hope to those people seeking to come to America and experience the blessings of freedom and prosperity that she has experienced. For more than a decade Shirley Gralla has been recognized as an international leader in assisting refugee families trapped in the former Soviet Union. More recently. Shirley Gralla has become immersed in a comprehensive approach to provide Jewish education and communal services for such refugee families in the United States. Mrs. Gralla has striven mightily to provide the emotional stability and compassion these people need to establish new and successful lives in America. In conjunction with her husband Milton. a Trustee of Yeshiva University. Mrs. Gralla has initiated a "Celebration of Religious Freedom." enabling Soviet Jewish couples who have immigrated to the United States to be remarried in traditional religious ceremonies denied them under the Communist regime. These ceremonies have taken place throughout the United States as well as Canada and Israel. Shirley Gralla has consistently demonstrated that she can not only develop dynamic and farreaching programs. but also roll up her sleeves and join in making things happen. In 1985. with her husband Milton. they sponsored a "Freedom Flight" of Soviet Jews from Bucharest to Israel and personally accompanied these refugees aboard the plane. As more and more Eastern European Jewish emigres obtained their freedom through the demise of the Soviet Union. Mrs.
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