Ribicoff to Press Bill Against Soviet Anti-semitism in U.S. Senate

Senator Abraham Ribicoff, Connecticut Democrat, today made known that he will seek Senate approval of his resolution condemning Soviet anti-Semitism, by offering it as an amendment to the foreign aid authorization bill now pending. Mr. Ribicoff is acting with the support of 24 Jewish organizations.

The resolution was submitted on August 10 to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has so far taken no action. Sixty-three other Senators have joined with Senator Ribicoff in co-sponsoring the measure. It is presumed that they would now support its adoption in the form of the amendment conceived by Sen. Ribicoff.

State Department sources indicated meanwhile that they doubt the wisdom of the Senate expression on this subject in any form. They said it was an intervention into the domestic affairs of the Soviet Union which would evoke resentment and prove counter-productive.

When the Ribicoff resolution was submitted before the Foreign Relations Committee, it met moves to broaden the wording to include Soviet discrimination against Moslems and Christians. This would weaken its value as a specific expression against growing anti-Semitism.

The amendment would contain the same wording as the original resolution. The main point would be the expression by Congress of the charge that “the Soviet Union is persecuting Jewish citizens by singling them out for extreme punishment for alleged economic offenses, by confiscating synagogues, by closing Jewish cemeteries, by arresting rabbis and lay religious leaders, by curtailing religious observances, by discriminating against Jews in cultural activities and access to higher education, by imposing restrictions that prevent the reuniting of Jews with their families in other lands, and by other acts that oppress Jews in the free exercise of their faith.”