[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 102 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.J. Res.102

                       One Hundred Fifth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twenty-seventh day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-
                                  eight


                            Joint Resolution


 
    Expressing the sense of the Congress on the occasion of the 50th 
     anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel and 
 reaffirming the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United 
                           States and Israel.

Whereas on November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted 
  to partition the British Mandate of Palestine, and through that vote, 
  to create the State of Israel;

Whereas on May 14, 1948, the people of Israel proclaimed the 
  establishment of the sovereign and independent State of Israel and 
  the United States Government established full diplomatic relations 
  with Israel;

Whereas the desire of the Jewish people to establish an independent 
  modern State of Israel is the outgrowth of the existence of the 
  historic Kingdom of Israel established three thousand years ago in 
  the city of Jerusalem and in the land of Israel;

Whereas one century ago at the First Zionist Congress on August 29 to 
  31, 1897, in Basel, Switzerland, participants under the leadership of 
  Theodore Herzl affirmed the desire to reestablish a Jewish homeland 
  in the historic land of Israel;

Whereas the establishment of the modern State of Israel as a homeland 
  for the Jews followed the slaughter of more than six million European 
  Jews during the Holocaust;

Whereas since its establishment 50 years ago, the modern State of 
  Israel has rebuilt a nation, forged a new and dynamic society, and 
  created a unique and vital economic, political, cultural, and 
  intellectual life despite the heavy costs of six wars, terrorism, 
  international ostracism, and economic boycotts;

Whereas the people of Israel have established a vibrant and functioning 
  pluralistic democratic political system including freedom of speech, 
  a free press, free and fair and open elections, the rule of law, and 
  other democratic principles and practices;

Whereas, at great social and financial costs, Israel has absorbed 
  hundreds of thousands of Jews from countries throughout the World, 
  many of them refugees from Arab countries, and fully integrated them 
  into Israeli society;

Whereas for half a century the United States and Israel have maintained 
  a special relationship based on mutually shared democratic values, 
  common strategic interests, and moral bonds of friendship and mutual 
  respect; and

Whereas the American people have shared an affinity with the people of 
  Israel and regard Israel as a strong and trusted ally and an 
  important strategic partner: Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the United States--
        (1) recognizes the historic significance of the 50th 
    anniversary of the reestablishment of the sovereign and independent 
    modern State of Israel;
        (2) commends the people of Israel for their remarkable 
    achievements in building a new state and a pluralistic democratic 
    society in the Middle East in the face of terrorism, hostility and 
    belligerence by many of her neighbors;
        (3) reaffirms the bonds of friendship and cooperation which 
    have existed between the United States and Israel for the past 
    half-century and which have been significant for both countries; 
    and
        (4) extends the warmest congratulations and best wishes to the 
    State of Israel and her people for a peaceful and prosperous and 
    successful future.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.