[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.J. Res. 102 Received in Senate (RDS)]

  2d Session
H. J. RES. 102


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 29, 1998

                                Received

_______________________________________________________________________

                            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 Pal-

estine, 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 fifty 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 fiftieth 
        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.

            Passed the House of Representatives April 28, 1998.

            Attest:

                                                ROBIN H. CARLE,

                                                                 Clerk.