Vice President Richard M. Nixon last night commended Jewish members of Congress for their alertness to the per### of Communism. Mr. Nixon made this commendation at a dinner honoring Jewish Congressmen held at the Mayflower Hotel under the auspices of the Men’s Club of Adas Israel Synagogue.
The Vice President said that Jewry could be proud of co-religionists serving in Congress. The Jews in Congress sensed the danger of Nazism very early, he said, adding that today they are bringing the Communist threat to the attention of the free world. Mr. Nixon said the Jews he knaw in Congress were “as articulate a group and as able a group as you will find” and lauded “the splendid work they are doing in the cause of freedom.”
A warning of “particularly sinister developments” involving anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe was expressed by the Vice President. He said that there should be awareness that an attack on any group, whether religious or racial, “involves our survival as free people.” He said such attacks were assaults “on freedom itself.”
Words of praise were also spoken on behalf of Jews in Congress by Sen. Styles Bridges, President Pro Tern of the Senate, and Rep. Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Majority Leader of the House. Those present at the banquet in their honor included Sen. Herbert H. Lehman, of New York, and Representatives Jacob K. Javits, Lester Holtzman, Arthur G. Klein, Emanuel Celler, Abraham Multer, Sidney A. Fine, and Isidore Dollinger, all of New York; Earl Chudoff, of Philadelphia, and Samuel Friedel, of Baltimore. All are Democrats except Javits. Reps. Heller and Yates who were also honored were not present.
Response to the praise by Republican leaders was made by Sen. Lehman and Rep. Celler. Sen. Lehman said that “wherever common cause can be made with hate, fear and prejudice, the Soviet leadership is quick to move. Anti-Semitism serves its frightful purpose not only behind the Iron Curtain, but also in the troubled ferment of the Middle East. Now Israel, that new and valiant nation which holds the seeds of progress and the promise of liberty for all the Middle East, is suddenly pictured as a monster, to be struck down with Soviet encouragement and support.” Sen. Lehman pledged that “we shall not permit this to happen.”
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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.
