[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 45 (Wednesday, April 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S3295]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 21--CONGRATULATING THE RESIDENTS OF 
                               JERUSALEM

       By Mr. MOYNIHAN (for himself, Mr. Mack, Mr. Daschle, Mr. 
     Lott, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Helms, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Kyl, Mr. 
     Allard, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Bond, Mrs. 
     Boxer, Mr. Breaux, Mr. Brownback, Mr. Bryan, Mr. Burns, Mr. 
     Campbell, Mr. Cleland, Mr. Coats, Mr. Cochran, Ms. Collins, 
     Mr. Craig, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Domenici, Mr. Dorgan, 
     Mr. Durbin, Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Feingold, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. 
     Frist, Mr. Graham, Mr. Gramm, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Hagel, Mr. 
     Harkin, Mr. Hatch, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Inouye, 
     Mr. Johnson, Mr. Kempthorne, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. 
     Kerry, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lugar, Mr. McCain, Ms. 
     Mikulski, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Nickles, Mr. 
     Reed, Mr. Robb, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Smith of 
     Oregon, Mr. Smith of New Hampshire, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Specter, 
     Mr. Stevens, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Warner and Mr. 
     Wyden) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
     was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:


                            S. Con. Res. 21

       Whereas for 3,000 years Jerusalem has been Judaism's 
     holiest city and the focal point of Jewish religious 
     devotion;
       Whereas Jerusalem is also considered a holy city by members 
     of other religious faiths;
       Whereas there has been a continuous Jewish presence in 
     Jerusalem for three millennia and a Jewish majority in the 
     city since the 1840s;
       Whereas the once thriving Jewish majority of the historic 
     Old City of Jerusalem was driven out by force during the 1948 
     Arab-Israeli War;
       Whereas from 1948 to 1967 Jerusalem was a divided city and 
     Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of 
     all states were denied access to holy sites in the area 
     controlled by Jordan;
       Whereas in 1967 Jerusalem was reunited by Israel during the 
     conflict known as the Six Day War;
       Whereas since 1967 Jerusalem has been a united city, and 
     persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full 
     access to holy sites within the city;
       Whereas this year marks the thirtieth year that Jerusalem 
     has been administered as a unified city in which the rights 
     of all faiths have been respected and protected;
       Whereas in 1990 the United States Senate and House of 
     Representatives overwhelmingly adopted Senate Concurrent 
     Resolution 106 and House Concurrent Resolution 290 declaring 
     that Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, ``must remain an 
     undivided city'' and calling on Israel and the Palestinians 
     to undertake negotiations to resolve their differences;
       Whereas Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel later cited 
     Senate Concurrent Resolution 106 as having ``helped our 
     neighbors reach the negotiating table'' to produce the 
     historic Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government 
     Arrangements, signed in Washington on September 13, 1993; and
       Whereas the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-
     45) which became law on November 8, 1995, states as a matter 
     of United States policy that Jerusalem should remain the 
     undivided capital of Israel: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people 
     of Israel on the thirtieth anniversary of the reunification 
     of that historic city;
       (2) strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an 
     undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and 
     religious group are protected as they have been by Israel 
     during the past 30 years;
       (3) calls upon the President and Secretary of State to 
     publicly affirm as a matter of United States policy that 
     Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the state of 
     Israel; and
       (4) urges United States officials to refrain from any 
     actions that contradict United States law on this subject.

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I submit a concurrent resolution 
congratulating the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on 
the 30th anniversary of the reunification of their historic capital. I 
am joined in this effort by my distinguished colleague from Florida 
[Mr. Mack] as well as by 68 other Senators.
  Next week, Jews around the world will conclude their Passover Seders 
with one of mankind's shortest and oldest prayers: ``Next year in 
Jerusalem.'' Throughout the centuries Jews kept this pledge, often 
sacrificing their very lives to travel to, and live in, their holiest 
city. The Jewish people's attachment to Jerusalem is as ancient as it 
is fervent.
  That Jerusalem is, and should remain, Israel's undivided capital 
would seem an unremarkable statement, but for the insidious campaign--
begun in the 1970's--to delegitimize Israel by denying her ties to 
Jerusalem. For too long, the United States acquiesced in this shameful 
lie by refusing to locate our Embassy in Israel's capital city. As long 
as Israel's most important friend in the world refused to acknowledge 
that Israel's capital city is its own, we lent credibility and 
dangerous strength to the lie that Israel is somehow a misbegotten, an 
illegitimate, or transient state.
  On November 8, 1995, the Jerusalem Embassy Act became the law of the 
United States. The law states, as a matter of United States Government 
policy, that Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State 
of Israel, and should remain an undivided city in which the rights of 
every ethnic and religious group are protected.
  The concurrent resolution I submit today continues in this spirit, 
and in the spirit of the many previous resolutions I have authored on 
this subject. In 1990, I introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, 
which stated simply: ``Jerusalem is and should remain the capital of 
the State of Israel.'' In 1993, in a message to the American-Israel 
Friendship League, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin wrote:

       In 1990, Senator Moynihan sponsored Senate Resolution 106, 
     which recognized Jerusalem as Israel's united Capital, never 
     to be divided again, and called upon Israel and the 
     Palestinians to undertake negotiations to resolve their 
     differences. The resolution, which passed both Houses of 
     Congress, expressed the sentiments of the United States 
     toward Israel, and, I believe, helped our neighbors reach the 
     negotiating table.

  The Israeli-Palestinian peace process faces difficult challenges at 
this time. It is my hope that this clear reiteration of U.S. policy on 
Jerusalem will help insure that Jerusalem will remain a city at peace 
and bring closer the day when it will once again become a symbol of 
peace for all humanity.
 Mr. MACK. Madam President, I am submitting a concurrent 
resolution today to congratulate the people of Israel and commemorate 
the 30-year unity of Jerusalem. Jerusalem must remain an undivided 
city. As a unified city of Israel for the past 30 years, Jerusalem has 
protected the rights of every ethnic and religious group. This must 
continue.
  In spite of all that the Congress has done, recent news continues to 
make reference to Israeli settlements in Jerusalem. Jewish communities 
and neighborhoods in Jerusalem are not settlements. There is only one 
Jerusalem, and only one Israel. Jerusalem is an indivisible part of 
Israel. Israel's friends in Congress understand this. This concurrent 
resolution is an expression of this support.

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