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Jewish Congress Testifies Against Amendment Permitting School Prayers

August 5, 1966
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The American Jewish Congress today deplored the Constitutional amendment proposed by Republican Senator Everett Dirksen which would permit children to offer “voluntary prayers” in public school classrooms. Leo Pfeffer, testifying on behalf of the AJ Congress, told the Senate Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments that “the voices of organized religion do not support” the amendment.

Mr. Pfeffer submitted the names of 223 Constitutional lawyers who were, he stated, “unanimous in the view” that Sen. Dirksen’s proposal “is entirely unwarranted.” He gave emphasis to this point in noting that some among the 223 lawyers did not agree with the Supreme Court decision outlawing Bible reading and prayer recitations in the public schools.

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