Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Edolphus "Ed" Towns expressed shock and dismay over the recent letter signed by twenty members of the State Duma, as reported by the Associated Press, petitioning Russian Prosecutor General Vladmir Ustinov to begin an investigation "on the prohibition in our country of all religious and ethnic Jewish organizations as extremist."
  
 In response, Congressman Towns sent a letter to the Russian Ambassador in the United States,  Yuri V. Ushakov, urging him to "investigate this matter and vigorously oppose efforts to ban Jewish organizations." Congressman Towns' further wrote, "It is particularly troublesome that just on the heels of the sixtieth anniversary of the Holocaust, lawmakers of a responsible law-abiding body are uttering such atrocious accusations, given the fact that Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops."
  
 "I cannot begin to understand how hurt and betrayed Jews in Russia feel. After tremendous progress and reform in Russia towards Jewish rights, the coals of anti-Semitism are again being stoked. We must stop this alarming incident in its tracks to prevent further libels from being spread. I strongly urge the government of the Russian Federation and other world leaders to condemn this xenophobic rhetoric and those supporting it. We have come too far in the quest for Jewish liberties, to silently accept such wild and anti-Semitic accusations." Congressman  Towns said.   

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