President Eisenhower had before him for signature today the humane slaughter bill opposed by Orthodox Jewish groups in the United States.
The House completed Congressional action on the controversial measure last night and sent it to the White House in an unexpectedly swift action. It had been anticipated that the measure would go to a Senate-House conference to settle minor differences. House proponents, however, won approval of a move to send it directly to the President.
Spokesmen for Orthodox Jewish groups had appeared before the Agriculture Committees of both Houses to oppose the bill, originally sponsored by W.R. Poage, Democrat of Texas. The approved bill contains amendments, added by Republican Senators Jacob Javits of New York and Clifford Case of New Jersey, exempting schechitah, Jewish ritual slaughter.
Major Jewish organizations are not opposing the bill, but Orthodox Jewish spokesmen opposed it even with the special exemption for shechitah, out of fears that the bill might be the first step in a legislative campaign to ban ritual slaughter in this country. Proponents said they expected the President to sign the bill, although the Administration had favored a two-year study before setting up a Federal code.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
