PRINTER'S NO. 3767
No. 287 Session of 1984
INTRODUCED BY ITKIN, NOVEMBER 28, 1984
ADOPTED, NOVEMBER 28, 1984
A RESOLUTION 1 Proclaiming December 5 "Soviet Jewry Solidarity Day" in 2 Pennsylvania. 3 WHEREAS, The flow of emigration of Soviet Jewry has ground to 4 a halt under newly formed and more oppressive changes in Soviet 5 policy; and 6 WHEREAS, The right to choose to leave is enshrined in the 7 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the right to family 8 reunification is recognized by the signatories to the Helsinki 9 Accords, even though the Soviet Union continues to violate these 10 principles on a variety of pretexts; and 11 WHEREAS, Jews remain the only recognized nationality in the 12 U.S.S.R. deprived of their cultural and linguistic identity, and 13 the exercise of the Jewish religion has been severely restricted 14 in a manner which is excessive even by the rigorous standards of 15 Soviet law; and 16 WHEREAS, Jews are threatened by a vicious and systematic 17 Soviet propaganda assault thinly disguised as anti-Zionism; and
1 WHEREAS, Jews are subject to rank discrimination in higher 2 education and employment; and 3 WHEREAS, The Soviet Union is a signatory to the Helsinki 4 Accords, and a contracting party to the International Covenant 5 on Civil and Political Rights and the UNESCO Convention Against 6 Discrimination in Education, which obligates it to fulfill the 7 cultural rights of minorities; and 8 WHEREAS, The Soviet constitution guarantees cultural and 9 linguistic rights but these are not applied uniformly and 10 consistently to Jews; and 11 WHEREAS, December 5 is the designated day of the National 12 Council of Jewish Women to observe "Women's Plea for Soviet 13 Jewry Day" in the United States; therefore be it 14 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 15 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania align itself with the cause of 16 justice, compassion and humanity by proclaiming December 5, 17 1984, "Soviet Jewry Solidarity Day" in Pennsylvania; and be it 18 further 19 RESOLVED, That a duly authenticated copy of this resolution 20 be transmitted to the Soviet Communist Party Chairman Chernenko, 21 the Soviet Ambassador, President Reagan and Secretary of State 22 Shultz. K28L82DGS/19840H0287R3767 - 2 -