Roosevelt Urges House to Condemn Religious Persecutions by Soviet Union

A resolution condemning the persecution of persons by the Soviet Union, because of their religion, was introduced in the House of Representatives today by Democratic Congressman James Roosevelt, of California. The resolution is identical with the one introduced in the Senate by Connecticut Democrat Abraham A. Ribicoff. Senator Ribicoff’s measure has already obtained 63 co-sponsors.

In introducing the resolution in the House, Congressman Roosevelt urged speedy action on this bill, in the hope that voices raised in the United States will help put an end to the “insidious cultural and religious genocide perpetrated against the Jewish people in the Soviet Union.”

Meanwhile, the insertion of the resolutions adopted by the American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry into the Congressional Record was among the echoes of the conference in both Houses of Congress today. Attention of both the Senate and the House of Representatives was drawn to the situation of Soviet Jewry, and to the conference in Washington which was held to deal with this problem. Several of the speeches at the conference were briefly summarized by members of Congress for the benefit of their colleagues, and inserted in full in the Congressional Record.

On the House floor today, Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern, of New York, urged the United States to continue its efforts in securing a world ban on anti-Semitism. He introduced a resolution lauding the U. S. action on this matter in the United Nations Human Rights Commission, and called upon the U.S. “to press the matter to a final conclusion in the months ahead. ” He added: “Our Government must not allow the issue to be delayed by the avalanche of other problems facing the United Nations at its autumn General Assembly meeting. Nor must we permit the inherent difficulties in procuring this effective, world condemnation to wither our spirits or weaken our perseverance.”