Senate Resolution 444--Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the American Jewish Committee

SENATE RESOLUTION 444--COMMEMORATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE

Mr. SMITH (for himself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mrs. DOLE) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

S. Res. 444

Whereas the American Jewish Committee, after its founding in 1906, rapidly emerged as a pioneering human relations agency, dedicated to combating all forms of bigotry and championing a sense of shared civic responsibility;

Whereas the American Jewish Committee, through a range of innovative projects and programs, seeks to build a more hopeful world by expanding freedom, enhancing mutual respect, monitoring hate groups, and providing vital information about extremists of every type;

Whereas the American Jewish Committee has strengthened the culture of the United States in historic ways through programs that teach tolerance, such as America's Table, through far-reaching dialogues with ethnic and religious group in the country, through promoting interfaith awareness and playing a key role in the issuance of Nostra Aetate, and through steadfast support of vulnerable individuals throughout history;

Whereas the American Jewish Committee, the first American Jewish organization to establish a full-time office in Israel, has worked tirelessly to tell the extraordinary story of Israel through a range of endeavors, including Project Interchange, which has brought more than 3,000 American leaders to the Jewish state for journeys of discovery and understanding;

Whereas the American Jewish Committee, through its network of offices and associations in the United States and across the globe, works with many countries, the United Nations, and other international bodies to promote democratic ideals and to protect and uplift Jewish communities everywhere;

Whereas the American Jewish Committee, through advocacy and education, indefatigably defends and protects the treasured civic values of the United States, including religious freedom, and support for public education and the family;

Whereas the American Jewish Committee sponsored research cited in the landmark Supreme Court case banning segregation, Brown et al. v. Board of Education of Topeka et al., and played a vital role in the civil rights movement, stood with Soviet Jewry and all prisoners of conscience in the Soviet Union, argued successfully for the inclusion of human rights clauses in the United Nations Charter, and insisted upon an acceptance of women's rights as a human rights issue; and

Whereas the American Jewish Committee, at work both on the world stage and here at home, for a century has had a proud and profoundly beneficial presence throughout the communities of the United States: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That--

(1) the American Jewish Committee, by choosing hope, inspires everyone in the United States as it continues its work into its second century of service; and

(2) the Senate salutes, commends, and congratulates the American Jewish Committee for its century of leadership.

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