52nd General Assembly
November 1973
New York, NY
We are deeply gratified by the cease-fire accord presently in force in Vietnam. It has brought cessation to a war we have long opposed and for which we saw neither moral nor legal sanction.
We express our most reverent hope that this cease-fire will ripen into an abiding and lasting peace and that it will provide the needed opportunity to reconcile the deep domestic divisions that so embitter our society. It is time now to "bind up the wounds of the nation."
Based on the Jewish religious concern to reconcile generation to generation, person to person, and in consonance with the prophetic cry of Malachi, to turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to the parents, it is our considered judgment that the first way to effect this healing process is by Congress granting unconditional amnesty to those young men who found, early or late, that they could not participate in that war and so went to prison, resisted, or deserted. As we make peace with our enemies, let us also make peace with these, our youth.
With full respect for those who chose to serve and those who sacrificed so much for their country, we call upon Congress to grant unconditional amnesty as an act of reconciliation and compassion that can help speedily to reunite the American people for the key task of justice and peace that lie ahead.