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Protecting Freedom

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Rep. Grace Meng was recently honored by the Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad for sponsoring the Protect Cemeteries Act, a new law that makes the desecration of cemeteries a violation of religious freedom. The commission awarded Meng with its Cultural Heritage Preservation Award for introducing the bill, which will help the agency in its work to protect and preserve cemeteries, monuments and historic buildings that are associated with the heritage of U.S. citizens in Central and Eastern Europe. Many of these areas include sites that fell behind the Communist Iron Curtain after the Jewish communities were destroyed through the Holocaust. In these places, Jewish burial grounds were left uncared for and unprotected. She introduced the Protect Cemeteries Act this past February. It quickly passed the House and the Senate, and was signed into law last month by President Obama. Meng is pictured as she was presented with the award by Lesley Weiss, at right, chairperson of the Commission for the Preservation. They were joined by commission member Lee Seeman, at left.


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