A resolution calling for the abolition of the House Committee on Un-American Activities has been adopted by the Joint Commission on Social Action of the United Synagogue of America, the Rabbinical Assembly of America and the National Women’s League. The announcement was made today by Rabbi Harry Halpern, chairman of the Joint Commission of the central bodies of the religious Conservative movement.
The resolution recommended that the newly elected House of Representatives move to abolish this committee and transfer its investigatory functions to other standing bodies. The Joint Commission thus endorsed a recommendation made this spring on the floor of the House by Rep. James Roosevelt, that the Committee on Un-American Activities be dissolved.
The resolution expressed particular disapproval of the House Committee’s recent charges against the National Council of Churches, calling them “completely unjustifiable” and “an assault on religious liberty.”
The Joint Commission statement went on to say that it was prompted by “our concern for the basic freedoms and rights of individuals and organizations, our concern for human dignity and orderly procedures and dedication to religious liberty as a fundamental tenet of American democracy, and our conviction that over the course of years this House Committee has repeatedly violated these principles.”
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