The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the largest mainstream Orthodox Jewish organization comprised of nearly 1,000 synagogues nationwide, today welcomed the introduction of the Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999 in the Senate by Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and in the House by Representative Doug Bereuter (R-NE).

This important bill, which proposes an important plan of U.S. assistance to aid new countries including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, will help strengthen their commitment to democracy, freedom and human rights and will aid them in developing western style economies. The goal is to help these countries resist falling under the domination of other regional powers including Iran and others.

This is important to United States interests as well as the interests of Israel, other regional allies, and to the thousands of Jews who still inhabit these former Soviet republics. We strongly urge the House and Senate to pass the Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999 in the interests of security, defense, and democracy in that critical region.