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.
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