[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H952]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     ISRAEL AND THE UNITED NATIONS

  (Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, as we discuss our relationship with 
the United Nations this session, I believe one of our priorities should 
be to seek an end to the isolation within the United Nations of our 
Democratic ally Israel. Participation in the Security Council as well 
as all committees of the United Nations is predicated on a country's 
participation in a regional group. Due to the objections raised by a 
number of rejectionist States, Israel has been denied membership in its 
natural geographic group. Israel is therefore shut out of the entire 
committee system where the real day-to-day work of the United Nations 
is conducted.
  One solution is to move beyond mere geography and look to the shared 
values of the democratic nations of western Europe. This group already 
spans 3 continents. Together with Congressman Steve Rothman and other 
colleagues, we have sent a letter to the ambassadors of the western 
European nations asking them to end Israel's unjust isolation by 
providing a legal home for their fellow democracy, the State of Israel.

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