Truman was a member of the American Palestine Committee - as, indeed were two-thirds of United States senators at the time - and thus formally and publicly committed to the principle that Britain should abandon limitations on Jewish immigration to Palestine. Harry Truman seems to have taken his membership more seriously than most, and made speeches to several Zionist groups. Truman's exceptional effort to be helpful to Jewish constituents in matters of appeals regarding refugees had won high praise from Jewish groups. In May 1939, he denounced the White Paper: 'The British government has used its diplomatic umbrella again, this time on Palestine. It has made a scrap of paper out of Lord Balfour's promise to the Jews. It has just added another to the long list of surrenders to Axis powers.' On 14 April 1943, he had addressed the Chicago United Rally to Demand Rescue of Doomed Jews.2