For Immediate Release                                                           Contact:

February 4, 2014                                                                    Roslyn Singer, 212-613-8227

Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU), the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, commended the United States Foreign Relations Committee for passing Senate Resolution 333, which strongly recommends the United States renegotiate the return of the Iraqi Jewish Archive to Iraq. The resolution must now be considered by the full Senate.

The Orthodox Union thanked Committee Chairman Robert Menendez and Ranking Member Bob Corker for their support of the resolution in Committee as well as the resolution’s original sponsors, Senators Pat Toomey, Richard Blumenthal, Barbara Boxer and Ben Cardin, for their leadership on this important issue.

Nathan Diament, Executive Director for Public Policy for the Orthodox Union, said, “The Iraqi Jewish Archive rightfully belongs to the Iraqi Jewish community and therefore should not be returned to Iraq in June, as stated under the initial agreement in 2003. We thank the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for taking this important first step and now urge the full Senate to consider and pass this resolution in a timely manner.”

-30-

The Orthodox Union is the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization; the OU Advocacy Center, formerly the Institute for Public Affairs, is the non-partisan public policy arm of the OU and leads its advocacy efforts in Washington, DC and state capitals.