[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5496-S5502]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REUNIFICATION OF JERUSALEM

  Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the 30th 
anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and to congratulate the 
people of Israel on their commitment to freedom.
  Jerusalem, Mr. President, is a city unique in all the world. We know 
much of its 3,000 year history. We know that Jerusalem has been a great 
city for many people; we know that it remains a holy city for people 
throughout the world; we know that it is an inseparable part of the 
Jewish state, a fundamental part of Jewish identity; and we know that 
it is the undivided capital of the State of Israel.
  It was on the hill which we call the Temple Mount that overlooked the 
Jerusalem of Abraham, where God called upon Abraham to bring his son to 
be sacrificed; it was here that God made His covenant with man. 
Jerusalem holds the remains of the first and second temples including 
the Western Wall of the temple's courtyard, Judaism's holiest site. It 
is to Jerusalem that Jews everywhere in the world turn in prayer and, 
no matter where they live, they conclude their celebrations with the 
refrain ``next year in Jerusalem.''
  Mr. President, I would like to read from perhaps the most moving 
description of this great city delivered by one of Israel's greatest 
leaders and statesmen. In 1995, the late Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin 
delivered the following remarks here in the U.S. Capitol:

       Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish people and a deep 
     source of our pride. On this festive occasion, thousands of 
     miles from home, here and now, we once again are raising 
     Jerusalem above our highest joy, just like our fathers and 
     our fathers' fathers did.
       Jerusalem has a thousand faces--and each one of us has his 
     own Jerusalem.
       My Jerusalem is Dr. Moshe Wallach of Germany, the doctor of 
     the sick of Israel and Jerusalem, who built Sha'arei Zedek 
     hospital and had his home in its courtyard so as to be close 
     to his patients day and night. I was born in his hospital . . 
     .
       My Jerusalem is the focus of the Jewish people's yearnings, 
     the city of its visions, the cradle of its prayers. It is the 
     dream of the return to Zion. It is the name millions murmur, 
     even on their death bed. It is the place where eyes are 
     raised and prayers are uttered.
       My Jerusalem is the jerrycan of water measured out to the 
     besieged in 1948, the faces of its anxious citizens quietly 
     waiting in line for bread, the sky whose blackness was torn 
     by flares.
       My Jerusalem is Bab el-Wad--the road to the city--which 
     cries out, ``Remember our names forever.'' It is the ashen 
     faces of dead comrades from the War of Independence, and the 
     searing cold of the rusting armored cars among the pines on 
     the side of the road.
       My Jerusalem is the great mountain, the military cemetery 
     on Mount Herzl, the city of silence whose earth holds the 
     treasured thousands of those who went to bitter battle--and 
     did not return.
       My Jerusalem is the tears of the paratroopers at the 
     Western Wall in 1967 and the flag which once more waved above 
     the remnant of the Temple.
       My Jerusalem is the changing colors of its walls, the 
     smells of its markets and the faces of the members of every 
     community and every faith, where all have freedom of thought 
     and freedom of worship in the city where holiness envelops 
     every stone, every word, every glance.
       And my Jerusalem is the City of Peace, which will bear 
     great tidings to all faiths, to all nations, ``For the Torah 
     shall come forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from 
     Jerusalem . . . Peace be within thy walls and prosperity 
     within thy palaces.''
       We differ in our opinions, left and right. We disagree on 
     the means and the objective. In Israel, we all agree on one 
     issue: the wholeness of Jerusalem, the continuation of its 
     existence as capital of the State of Israel. There are no 
     two Jerusalems. There is only one Jerusalem. For us, 
     Jerusalem is not subject to compromise, and there is no 
     peace without Jerusalem.
       Jerusalem, which was destroyed eight times, where for years 
     we had no access to the remnants of our Temple, was ours, is 
     ours, and will be ours--forever.
       ``Here tears do not weaken eyes,'' wrote the Jerusalem poet 
     Yehuda Amichai. ``They only polish and shine the hardness of 
     faces like stone.'' Jerusalem is that stone.

  Mr. President, Jerusalem is more than the heart of the Jewish people. 
It is sacred throughout the world. Jesus was crucified inside today's 
city, and Mohammed was said to have ascended into Heaven from the 
Temple Mount. Mr. President, Jerusalem indeed is a great city; it is a 
city of the world, a city revered by the world, and a city for the 
world. Its freedom is invaluable.
  Unfortunately, from 1948 to 1967, beginning with the war waged 
against the new State of Israel and ending with Israel's victory in the 
Six-Day War, Jerusalem was a divided city. During this time, Israelis 
of all faiths and Jews from around the world were prohibited from 
entering the eastern part of the city and from praying at the holy 
sites there. Jerusalem had lost its freedom, and the world had lost its 
Jerusalem.
  This week, Mr. President, marks the anniversary of the liberation of 
the holy city and its return to freedom. That is why we are 
congratulating the people of Jerusalem.
  Today, Jerusalem is a city of growth, prosperity, and freedom. Upon 
their victory in 1967, those denied the city for so long did not deny 
it to the defeated. To this day, perhaps the most holy site for all 
three major religions of the city remains housed in a Moslem mosque, 
the Dome of the Rock. But it is a place which can be visited by anyone 
who desires.
  So, beyond honoring the freedom of this great city, I want to 
congratulate the people of Jerusalem and of Israel for their commitment 
to religious freedom and the principle that religious faiths should not 
pay the price of political disputes. The Jews of Israel know very well 
the importance of religious freedom, and the pain of its denial.
  Today, as we remember Jerusalem's proud and turbulent past, and honor 
its

[[Page S5497]]

freedom-loving residents, we must appreciate the continuing threat to 
the city's future.
  Thirty years ago today, Mr. President, Israel was at war, fighting 
for the freedom and indivisibility of Jerusalem. I submit that today, 
Israel remains at war. We must remember, as the peace which seeks to 
end this war ebbs and flows, that many people in and around Israel are 
trying to accomplish through other means what they failed to do in 
1967--push Israel into the Mediterranean Sea. In this environment, we 
must not assume all parties are equally right and equally wrong. The 
middle of a dispute is usually not halfway in between the belligerents. 
Treating bombs in cafes and on buses as morally equivalent to 
bulldozers on deserted hilltops jeopardizes peace.
  The Senate, on May 20, passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 21, 
marking the anniversary of Jerusalem's reunification and congratulating 
the people of Israel. The measure had 88 initial cosponsors and passed 
unanimously. This clear message cannot be misunderstood. There is only 
one Jerusalem and it is the undivided capital of Israel. As the peace 
process continues there should be no doubt about where the U.S. Senate 
stands. The Senate 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 and 
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.
  Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, today the Senate joins the people of 
Israel as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of the reunification of 
Jerusalem. The Six-Day War began after Egyptian President Gamal Abdel 
Nasser, spurred on by the Soviet Union, conspired with Syria, Jordan, 
and Iraq to have the people of Israel ``thrown into the sea.'' Nasser 
persuaded U.N. Secretary General U Thant to withdraw peacekeeping 
forces from the Gaza strip which for 10 years had acted as a buffer 
between Israel and Egypt. The Egyptians began amassing troops in the 
Sinai. Israel, surrounded by 250,000 Arab troops preparing for war, 
launched a devastating pre-preemptive strike on June 5.
  The war was a significant event in Israeli history and resulted in 
the reunification of Jerusalem, which before the war had been divided 
with all access to the Old City and its holy sites denied to Jews.
  I have been involved with this particular issue in some measure since 
my tenure as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations in 
1975. By the early 1970's, a Soviet-led coalition wielded enormous 
power in the U.N. General Assembly and used it in an assault against 
the democracies of the world. In that regard, I cite an editorial in 
the New Republic which has said of the United Nations in that time that 
``During the Cold War, the United Nations became a chamber of hypocrisy 
and proxy aggression.''
  Those who had failed to destroy Israel on the field of battle joined 
those who wished to discredit all Western democratic governments in an 
unprecedented, sustained attack on the very right of a U.N. member 
state to exist within the family of nations.
  The efforts in the 1970's to delegitimize Israel came in many forms. 
None more insidious than the twin campaigns to declare Zionism to be a 
form of racism and to deny Israel's ties to Jerusalem. Those who ranted 
against the ``racist Tel Aviv regime'' were spewing two ugly lies. Both 
had at their heart a denial of Israel's right to exist.
  The first lie, the infamous Resolution 3379, was finally repealed on 
December 16, 1991, after the cold war had ended and as the Soviet Union 
was dissolving. The second we are still dealing with today.
  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 far 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, illegitimate 
or transient state.
  This suggestion is all the more untenable when you consider that no 
other people on this planet have been identified as closely with any 
city as the people of Israel are with Jerusalem --a city which recently 
celebrated the 3000th anniversary of King David declaring it his 
capital. No Jewish religious ceremony is complete without mention of 
the Holy City. And twice a year, at the conclusion of the Passover 
Seder and the Day of Atonement services, all assembled repeat 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. It 
should be noted that the first authoritative Turkish census of 1844 
reported that Jews were by far the largest ethnic group in Jerusalem--
long before there was a West Jerusalem, or even any settlements outside 
the ancient walled city.
  When the modern State of Israel declared independence on May 14, 
1948, Jerusalem was the only logical choice for the new nation's 
capital, even if it was only a portion of Jerusalem--the Jordanian Arab 
Legion having occupied the eastern half of the city and expelled the 
Jewish population of the Old City. Jerusalem was sundered by barbed-
wire and cinderblock and Israelis of all faiths and Jews of all 
citizenship were barred from even visiting the section under Jordanian 
occupation.
  The world was silent while the historic Jewish Quarter of the city 
was sacked and razed to the ground, synagogues and schools were 
destroyed, and 3,000 years of history were denied. This bizarre anomaly 
only ended on June 5, 1967, when Israel faced renewed aggression from 
Egypt and Syria, both then close friends of, and dependents of the 
Soviet Union. As hostilities commenced, Israeli Prime Minister Levi 
Eshkol sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan promising that, if 
Jordan refrained from entering the war, Israel would not take action 
against it. Jordan, however, attacked Israel that same day. Within the 
week, Israeli forces had captured all of Jerusalem, as well as other 
territories west of the Jordan River. The City of David was once again 
united, and has remained so since 1967. Under Israeli rule Jerusalem 
has flourished as it did not under Jordanian occupation, and the 
religious shrines of all faiths have been meticulously protected.

  Having made the odious link between Zionism and racism, the Soviet 
inspired coalition now set its sights on the heart of Israel: 
Jerusalem. The Seventh Conference of Heads of State of Government of 
Non-Aligned Countries, which convened in New Delhi, India, March 7 
through 11, 1983, devoted several lengthy passages of its Final 
Declaration to excoriating Israel and its ally, the United States. 
Special attention was devoted to the question of Jerusalem's status. 
And not just East Jerusalem as had become the practice of such fora.
  I happened to be in New Delhi in the days before the summit began and 
was shown a draft of the Final Declaration. The draft passage of Israel 
read: ``Jerusalem is part of the occupied Palestinian territory and 
Israel should withdraw completely and unconditionally from it and 
restore it to Arab sovereignty.''
  While surely this can be read as a provocative statement that all of 
Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory, when pressed on the point, 
my Indian hosts assured me that by Jerusalem they really only meant 
east Jerusalem, which is to say the Old City, or perhaps the Arab 
section. Hence, the significance of the revised final text of the 
declaration of some 101 nations.
  This is what the nonaligned declared in that session in 1983:

       West Jerusalem is part of the occupied Palestinian 
     territory and Israel should withdraw completely and 
     unconditionally from it and restore it to Arab sovereignty. 
     West Jerusalem!
  The 101 nations of the Non-Aligned Movement declared that the Israeli 
Parliament and government buildings, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust 
memorial, the King David Hotel, the whole of the new city, did not 
belong to Israel. The State of Israel is not a nation. It has no 
capital, or so said the nonaligned.
  What was the response from Washington to such polemics? Not a word.

[[Page S5498]]

 In effect, our silence could have been interpreted as implying that we 
had no quarrel with those who state that Israel has no capital. And 
thus, that Israel is less than a sovereign nation.
  It was at this point that I brought the issue to the Senate floor. On 
October 31, 1983, I introduced S. 2031 which required the relocation of 
our Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
  Official documents published by the United States Government at the 
time, such as the State Department's ``Key Officers of Foreign Service 
Posts: Guide for Business Representatives,'' listed Jerusalem separate 
from Israel. The guide listed countries alphabetically, under each of 
which in subscript was enumerated the various diplomatic posts the 
United States Government maintained in that country.
  There was Ireland, with the one post in Dublin; then came Israel, 
with one diplomatic office listed, its address in Tel Aviv; then 
curiously several pages later, after Japan, there was listed a 
Consulate General in a country called Jerusalem. Then came Jordan and 
Kenya.
  That was how the ``Key Officers of Foreign Service Posts'' was 
organized until the end of 1994, when Secretary Christopher published 
the document with Jerusalem listed under the Israel heading. This is a 
welcome change. That simple refusal by the United States Government to 
associate our consulate in Jerusalem with the State of Israel carried 
much greater weight with the Non-Aligned countries than we realized.
  They would not have acted as they had done in 1983 if they did not 
think at some measure we were not in disagreement. Our documents have 
so implied.
  While my legislation did not pass in 1983, the drive to clarify the 
status of Jerusalem began to gain momentum in the Senate in 1990 when I 
submitted Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which states simply: 
``Jerusalem is and should remain the capital of the State of Israel.'' 
A simple declarative sentence which gained 85 cosponsors and was 
adopted unanimously by the Senate and by an overwhelming majority in 
the House.
  On November 8, 1995, the Dole-Moynihan 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 as 
they are today.
  In the winter of 1981, I wrote an article in Commentary entitled 
``Joining The Jackals'' in response to the Carter administration's 
disastrous support for a resolution challenging Israel's rights in 
Jerusalem. Sixteen years later, we find that the jackals are in 
retreat. Israelis and Palestinians are negotiating the details of their 
future. And the United States can make a simple but important 
contribution to this process by unequivocally recognizing Israel's 
chosen capital.
  The Senate has affirmed this simple proposition by unanimously 
adopting Senate Concurrent Resolution 21, on May 20, 1997, which 
commemorates the reunification of Jerusalem and states that:

       [The Senate] 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;
       [and]
       Calls upon the President and Secretary of State to publicly 
     affirm as a matter of United States policy that Jerusalem 
     must remain and undivided capital of the state of Israel.

  Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for their strong support of this 
measure, and again wish to congratulate our friends in Israel on this 
important occasion.
  Mr. KEMPTHORNE. Mr. President, today I join my colleagues in 
congratulating the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on 
the 30th anniversary of the reunification of their capital.
  Christianity, Islam, and Judaism hold Jerusalem sacred, and the many 
holy sites of all faiths make a city a world spiritual and religious 
center. With the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, Israel ensured the 
freedom of worship for all faiths and access to holy places of all 
religions with the enactment of the Protection of Holy Places Law, 
1967.
  Today, Jerusalem is a mosaic of many cultures, religions, and 
nationalities, of peoples and neighborhoods, of old and new. It is a 
union of contrasts with a unique character. Last year Israel celebrated 
the Trimillennium of Jerusalem, the City of David. And for the past 
3,000 years there has been a continuous Jewish presence in the city. In 
fact, ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom, 
Jerusalem has become a center of Jewish existence.
  No other nation has ever made Jerusalem its capital in such an 
absolute and binding fashion. The Temple was built in Jerusalem, and to 
it the religious made their pilgrimages. Chapters of the Bible were 
written within its walls, and there the prophets preached their 
prophesies. The city's ancient stones, imbued with millennia of 
history, and its numerous historical, sites, shrines, and places of 
worship attest to its meeting for Jews, Christians, and Muslims. 
Sanctified by religion and tradition, by history and theology, by holy 
places and houses of worship, Jerusalem is a city revered by Jews, 
Christians, and Muslims. It reflects the fervor and piety of the three 
major monotheistic faiths, each of which is bound to Jerusalem by 
veneration and love.
  The Jewish bond to Jerusalem was never broken. For three millennia, 
Jerusalem has been the center of the Jewish faith, retaining its 
symbolic value throughout the generations. The many Jews who had been 
exiled after the Roman conquest and scattered throughout the world 
never forgot Jerusalem. Year after year they repeated ``Next year in 
Jerusalem.'' Jerusalem became the symbol of the desire of Jews 
everywhere to return to their homeland. It was invoked by the prophets, 
enshrined in daily prayer, and sung by Hebrew poets in far-flung lands.
  As a Christian, Jerusalem is a holy city for me. Jerusalem is the 
place where Jesus lived, preached, died, and was resurrected. I went to 
Jerusalem in 1994 and visited various holy sites including the Church 
of the Holy Sepulcher, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Via Dolorosa. 
For me there is something very special about this ancient city and I am 
glad I was able to visit these sites unencumbered, as are all persons.
  For Islam, the prophet Mohammed was miraculously transported from 
Mecca to Jerusalem, and it was from there that he made his ascent to 
heaven. The Dome of the Rock built in the seventh century, is built 
over the site of Mohammed's ascent.
  Every year Jerusalem plays host to hundreds of thousands of Christian 
pilgrims who come to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and pray at the 
shrines and churches throughout the city. Thousands of worshipers pray 
at the Mosques on the Temple Mount, with their numbers swelling into 
the hundreds of thousands during Moslem holy month of Ramadan.
  Jerusalem is a special city for me, my fellow Christians, Moslems, 
and Jews. For the United States, Jerusalem is the recognized undivided 
capital of Israel, and the United States embassy will be established in 
the city by 1999.
  Mr. President, again, I want to congratulate the citizens of 
Jerusalem and Israel on this special occasion. As I wish them all my 
best for the next 3,000 years, I am reminded of Psalms 122:2-3.

     Our feet stood within thy gate,
     O Jerusalem,
     Jerusalem built up,
     a city knit together.

  Congratulations, Jerusalem.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I am proud to rise as a cosponsor of 
Senate Concurrent Resolution 21 and commend the people of Israel on the 
30th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
  Jerusalem is and always will be the capital of Israel. For thousands 
of years the Jewish people prayed, ``next year in Jerusalem.'' This 
prayer helped to sustain Jews even through the darkest days of the 
diaspora.
  After Israeli independence, Jews were forced out of Jerusalem--where 
they had lived for three millennia. The holy sites of Jerusalem were 
closed to Christians and Jews. The Jewish quarter of the old city was 
destroyed. But since Jerusalem was unified in 1967, it has been open to 
all religions for the first time in its history.
  I have visited Israel with Jews who were there for the first time. 
When we

[[Page S5499]]

visited the Western Wall, I saw what it meant for them to touch the 
stones that their ancestors could only dream of. I saw that Jerusalem 
is not just a city or a capital. It is the religious and historic 
homeland of the Jewish people.
  Jerusalem is the capitol of Israel--though the world ignores this 
fact. Why is Israel the only nation that is not allowed to chose its 
own capital?
  There is much talk about building in Jerusalem. Well, there is a 
building project that I particularly look forward to. America will 
build its Embassy in Jerusalem by 1999. We should have moved our 
Embassy long ago.
  Mr. President, This year, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the 
unification of Jerusalem, let us mark this great event by reaffirming 
that Jerusalem is and always will be the capital of the State of 
Israel.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, this past Saturday, June 7, marked the 30th 
anniversary of the reunification of the city of Jerusalem. Prior to 
1967, Jerusalem was a city divided, its center scarred by concrete and 
barbed wire, with many of its residents displaced. Israel's recovery of 
Jerusalem during the Six-Day War ended that ugly partition and restored 
the ability of visitors and residents of all religions to worship 
freely and visit important holy sites in Jerusalem.
  For my part, I am convinced that Jerusalem should remain the unified 
capital of the State of Israel. I have consistently supported measures 
before the Congress expressing opposition to the division of the holy 
city.
  The Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act, passed in 1995, definitively 
expressed Congress' heartfelt belief that Jerusalem should not only 
remain the capital of the State of Israel, but that the United States 
should recognize it as such.
  Jerusalem occupies a central place in the Christian, Islamic, and 
Jewish faiths and I believe it is crucial to each of these great 
traditions that Jerusalem remain undivided and its holy sites open.
  I urge that the President and the State Department declare their 
support for a free, united Jerusalem, and to avoid interfering in 
negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians on the status of the 
holy city.
  Mr. President, in these last 30 years, the holy city of Jerusalem has 
flourished, not just for Israel, but for all people. Nobody can claim 
complete ownership of one of the spiritual centers of the world. But we 
can all congratulate the State of Israel on its excellent stewardship.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to add my voice to those 
celebrating the 30th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. The 
Senate has before it a resolution commemorating this occasion. Its 
passage will be an appropriate and fitting testimony to the courage of 
those who reunited and reopened the city, and to the wisdom of those 
who have maintained it that way for the last three decades.
  Jerusalem is a city of faith. It is the spiritual home of Jews, 
Christians, and Muslims, and it is the sacred symbol and temporal 
meeting place of their shared legacy and common humanity. Undivided 
access to its holy sites is a promise made in the tumult of war and 
kept in the name of peace. Those who made it and those who keep it are 
rightly remembered by us today.
  Jerusalem also is a national city. It is the undivided capital of 
Israel--the political and cultural center of one of America's 
staunchest, most important allies. The continued unity of Jerusalem 
under Israel's flag is not an issue for debate. It is our best 
assurance that America's most cherished values, including the rule of 
law and basic human freedoms, will be preserved and protected in a 
region critical to our own national interest.
  Thirty years ago, the people of Israel reunified Jerusalem. But for 
more than 3,000 years, Jerusalem has endured as the city on the hill. 
Geography and politics alone do not being to explain its significance. 
It is a place where God touches us and unifies our histories; it is 
where the privilege and responsibility of Abraham's heritage becomes 
our own. Peace with justice in Jerusalem is a measure of our integrity 
as people of faith; and the best hope for peace with justice in 
Jerusalem is continued undivided sovereignty.
  I urge my colleagues to pass this resolution congratulating the 
residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 30th anniversary 
of that city's reunification.
  Mr. D'AMATO. Mr. President, I rise today to commemorate the 30th 
anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem.
  Jerusalem is and shall remain the undivided capital of the State of 
Israel. The facts are simple: Jerusalem belongs to Israel for the 
simple reason that for three millennia, it has been the spiritual, 
historical, cultural, and moral capital of the Jewish people. In 
recognition of this fact, the relocation of our Embassy from Tel Aviv 
to Jerusalem should take place as called for in the Jerusalem Embassy 
Relocation Act of 1995.
  Thirty years after reuniting the city after preempting another attack 
by her surrounding Arab neighbors, Israel has sought to make the city 
open to people of all faiths and to make the holy sites available to 
all who come. The fact remains, that Jerusalem has never been the 
capital of any nation but that of the Jews. That is the way it should 
remain.
  Mr. President, Jerusalem has been central in the thoughts and minds 
of the Jewish people for 3,000 years. As the holy city, Jerusalem is 
the spiritual and religious center of Judaism and is an indivisible 
part of the State of Israel.
  While I understand that the present Middle East peace negotiations 
are both complicated and delicate, I do not want anyone to fall under 
the impression that Jerusalem will belong to anyone other than Israel. 
If the future of Jerusalem remains unclear in the minds of the 
Palestinians then they will increase their demands and this will 
further complicate the already tense negotiations.
  Let the message be clear: A united Jerusalem is off limits to 
negotiation.
  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today in support of Senate 
Concurrent Resolution 21 of which I am a proud cosponsor. This 
resolution congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of 
Israel on the 30th anniversary of the reunification of that historic 
city. This resolution also expresses our strong belief 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. Furthermore it calls upon the President and the 
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.
  There has been a continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem for three 
millennia and a Jewish majority in the city for the past 150 years. 
Jerusalem has been, throughout these years, the holiest of cities and 
the focal point of Jewish devotion. Jerusalem remains a unique and 
critically important city to the Jewish people. Jerusalem is also the 
only city in the world which serves as the capital of the same country, 
inhabited by the same people, speaking the same language, and 
worshipping the same God as was the case 3,000 years ago.
  During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Jewish people were driven out 
of the Old City of Jerusalem and denied access to holy sites in the 
area controlled by Jordan. For 19 years Israelis of all faiths and Jews 
from all around the world were prevented from visiting their holiest 
sites by the barbed wire which divided Jerusalem. Today we commemorate 
30 years of unrestricted access to these holy sites. Since the Israeli 
Government reunified Jerusalem under its control, the rights of all 
religious and ethnic groups have been restored and vigilantly 
protected.
  The protection of the rights of every ethnic and religious group is 
critical to the maintenance of peace in such a diverse and religiously 
significant region. We are here today to commend the Israeli people and 
their government for restoring full access for all people to their holy 
sites. Today we again lend our support to continued Israeli control of 
a unified Jerusalem.
  Support for a strong, independent, and undivided Israel is the 
keystone of our policy in the Middle East. Israel is not only the sole 
democracy in the region, but also a country with which we share 
cultural and historical ties. Our continued support of Israel, and of 
Jerusalem as its undivided capital, is especially important in this 
crucial point in the peace process.

[[Page S5500]]

  We are here today in continuation of our previous policy initiatives 
regarding Israel and its control of Jerusalem. In 1990, the Congress 
adopted concurrent resolutions declaring that the Congress ``strongly 
believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the 
rights of every ethnic religious group are protected.'' In 1992, the 
Congress adopted resolutions to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 
reunification of Jerusalem, additionally reaffirming congressional 
sentiment that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city.
  Congress' most forceful and symbolically consequential actions in 
recognition of the importance of a unified Jerusalem have been part of 
its systematic rebuke of its previous policy of maintaining the U.S. 
Embassy in Tel Aviv. For some time the United States has conducted its 
official meetings and other business in the city of Jerusalem in de 
facto recognition of its status as the capital of Israel. The Jerusalem 
Embassy Act of 1995 stated as a matter of policy that Jerusalem should 
remain the undivided capital of Israel. Funds for the building of the 
U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem were recently appropriated in the fiscal year 
1998 appropriations bill, H.R. 1486.
  As a Member of this Senate and a long-time supporter of Israel, I am 
proud to stand with many of my distinguished colleagues as a cosponsor 
of this important resolution.
  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I rise in support of Senate Concurrent 
Resolution 21, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the reunification 
of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
  It is an honor to be a cosponsor of this resolution, as it was to be 
a cosponsor of the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act. The 1995 act 
declared that the holy city should remain ``undivided'' and be 
``recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.''
  Mr. President, for 3,000 years there has been a continuous Jewish 
presence in the city of Jerusalem. No other city on Earth is the 
capital of the same country, inhabited by the same people, speaking the 
same language and worshipping the same God, for a span of three 
centuries as has been the case with Jerusalem.
  In 1948, the Arab legion conquered East Jerusalem, including the Old 
City, as part of the general Arab military offensive to prevent Israel 
from coming into being. Israel retained control over West Jerusalem. It 
is important to note, Mr. President, that when East Jerusalem was under 
Arab or Muslim rule, it never served as a capital city for the rulers. 
Between 1948 and 1967, when East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, 
Jordan's capital remained in Amman. I would also note that during this 
time, the holy city was closed to other religions. Jews were prevented 
from visiting their holy places, all the synagogues in the Old City 
were razed and Jewish burial places were desecrated.
  In 1967, as Egypt and Syria moved again toward war against Israel, 
the Israeli Government urged King Hussein of Jordan to sit out the 
fighting and promised that the territories he controlled would be left 
alone if he did so. The King failed to heed the warning. He attacked 
Israel, and in the ensuing fighting lost East Jerusalem and the West 
Bank.
  When the holy city was reunified after the war, Israel, under Labor 
Party leadership at the time, declared that Jerusalem will remain 
undivided forever as Israel's capital and that all people will have 
free access to their holy places. All people of all faiths are welcome 
to worship in the holy city. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon 
Peres said it this way: ``Jerusalem is closed politically and open 
religiously. This mean that it will remain unified, and only as 
Israel's capital, not two capitals. It will remain under Israeli 
sovereignty.''
  I agree with Shimon Peres. Jerusalem is, and should remain, a united 
city--the capital of Israel. I urge the immediate adoption of this 
resolution. As the 1995 act did before, Senate Concurrent Resolution 21 
will send a principled and constructive signal to all the parties in 
the Arab-Israeli negotiations that the United States recognizes 
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
  Mr. BRYAN. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
observing the 30th anniversary of the reunification of the city of 
Jerusalem. Although the modern State of Israel was founded almost 50 
years ago, in 1948, the city of Jerusalem was at that time still 
divided between Israel and Jordan, and its holy sites were not open to 
all religious groups. After Jerusalem became one again in 1967, these 
important historical and religious sites were opened to Christians, 
Jews, Muslims, and all others who wished to worship or simply spend 
some time in the Old City or at the Western Wall.
  I have long supported an undivided Jerusalem in which the rights of 
every ethnic and religious group will be protected and respected. 
Jerusalem is not only the capital of Israel, but also the home of more 
than 40 Christian denominations and the home of the Moslem religion. It 
is imperative that we work to preserve this city's unity and prevent 
any actions that would threaten this status. At the same time, we must 
ensure that our efforts to maintain unity in the holy city do not 
divide those working toward a lasting peace in the Middle East. 
Jerusalem is holy to many people in many different ways, and its future 
has understandably been a sensitive issue in the ongoing peace process. 
Unfortunately, some have used the issue of a unified Jerusalem to 
divide those who share in the city's heritage. Our support today for 
unity in Jerusalem does not in any way detract from our support for 
peace in the Middle East. The peace process, with our unqualified 
support, must move forward.
  In closing, Mr. President, I simply wish to restate my support for a 
unified Jerusalem that is open to all those who wish to visit its 
historical and spiritual sites. It is fitting that the Senate takes a 
moment to reflect upon the importance of Jerusalem as a symbol to 
people of diverse faiths and as a unified city open to all. Mr. 
President, I yield the floor.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today to 
commemorate the 13th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem 
during the Six-Day War. I congratulate the residents of Jerusalem and 
the people of Israel on this important anniversary day.
  On June 5, 1967, the Israelis responded to threats from their Arab 
neighbors and 6 days later the war ended with a reunified Jerusalem 
that once again gave Jews access to the old city and its holy sites. 
Some called this unexpected price of war a miracle; it is indeed an 
issue of great importance for the Jewish people.
  Jerusalem holds a special place in Jewish history. Since King David, 
Jerusalem has been at the center of Jewish traditions and the very core 
of Jewish faith. The very city itself, not just the sites of religious 
significance, is considered hallowed by those of the Jewish faith. This 
issue has personal significance to me as well, as members of my own 
family live and worship in Jerusalem.
  Jews have long been the majority of residents of Jerusalem. However, 
Jerusalem is not only important for the Jewish faith, but for Islam and 
Christianity as well. I am a cosponsor of the sense-of-the-Congress 
resolution that recognizes the significance of a unified Jerusalem to 
the people of Israel and reiterates the Senate's position that 
Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every 
ethnic and religious group are protected.
  This resolution also calls on the President to publicly affirm as a 
matter of United States policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided 
capital of Israel. Since coming to the Senate, I have supported 
initiatives that recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. I also 
supported the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Implementation Act of 1995, 
legislation that will move the United States Embassy in Israel to 
Jerusalem. I will continue to work to ensure that never again will 
access to the old city and its holy sites be denied to Jews or to 
persons of any faith.
  Mr. President, I join my colleagues on this momentous day in 
celebrating the triumph of Israel in the Six-Day War and the 
reunification of Jerusalem.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I join my colleagues in paying tribute to 
the nation of Israel and its courageous people on the 30th anniversary 
of the reunification of Jerusalem.
  Today, this remarkable city, with its proud history in both the 
ancient and the modern worlds, stands as a center

[[Page S5501]]

of diverse religious and cultural interests. Three of the world's great 
religions--Christianity, Islam, and Judaism--consider Jerusalem to be a 
holy city, and all three have holy sites in the city.
  In 1967, following 20 years of division, Israel reunited Jerusalem 
during the course of its heroic victory in the Six-Day War. As the 
capital of Israel, Jerusalem today is a haven for persons of all ethnic 
and religious groups. As we join in commending Israel on this important 
anniversary, we also reaffirm our commitment to an undivided Jerusalem.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, 30 years ago a singular, unexpected and 
startling event reshaped the world. I am referring to the conclusion of 
the Six-Day War of 1967, when the young Jewish state was faced with the 
amassed forces of the Arab world, bent on its destruction, but 
prevailed against all odds and concluded the short but bloody war with 
the victorious forces of Israel reclaiming and reuniting the holy city 
of Jerusalem.
  It was the first time since the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. that the 
city was entirely in Jewish hands. One of the accounts of the first 
paratroopers and soldiers to reach the wall spoke of Gen. Shlomo Goren, 
then the chief rabbi of the Israeli Army, who raced to join the first 
to reach the wall. Last week's Jerusalem Post recounted that he was 
armed only with a Bible and a shofar, and that as they ran through the 
narrow streets of Old Jerusalem

       Goren did not stop blowing the shofar and reciting prayers. 
     His enthusiasm infected the soldiers, and from every 
     direction came cries of ``Amen!'' The paratroopers burst out 
     in song.

  The Jewish author Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote movingly of this 
pivotal event:

       In its solitude the Wall was forced into the role of an 
     unreachable tombstone for the nameless dead. Suddenly the 
     Wall, tired of tears and lamentations, became homesick for 
     song. ``O Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us chant in joy 
     to the rock of our salvation!'' (Psalm 95:1) It will be 
     called the Rejoicing Wall.

  It was the first time since the partition of Jerusalem that Jews 
could pray at the Western Wall. In fact, after the Israeli paratroopers 
and soldiers liberated the city, many flocked to the wall even before 
the mines left by the Jordanians had been removed. A few days later, 
the headline of the Jerusalem Post read: ``200,000 at Western Wall in 
first pilgrimage since Dispersion''.
  Heschel wrote:

       July, 1967 * * * I have discovered a new land. Israel is 
     not the same as before. There is great astonishment in the 
     souls. It is as if the prophets had risen from their graves. 
     Their words ring in a new way. Jerusalem is everywhere, she 
     hovers over the whole country. There is a new radiance, a new 
     awe.

  Mr. President, the conclusion of this war had profound geopolitical 
consequences--for the Mideast, and for the world, as the superpowers 
responded to the consequences of the defeat of the Arab armies. The 
Soviets increased their support to the Arab regimes intent on revenge, 
including the virulently anti-Israel governments of Saddam Hussein and 
Hafez Assad who came to power over the next couple of years. The United 
States, quick to recognize Israel's declaration of independence almost 
20 years before, stood by our Democratic friend, as we would during the 
Yom Kippur War 6 years later, and as we have ever since.
  But there was consequences even more profound than the geopolitics. 
The city of David was in Jewish hands. Whereas the Jewish graves and 
synagogues had been desecrated since the partitioning in 1948, Israel 
opened the city to the faithful of the three monotheistic religions. 
The Muslim leaders retained control of al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of 
the Rock. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians have joined 
Jews since then in pilgrimages to holy Jerusalem. Jerusalem today is a 
city for all faithful.
  It is also, as so befits the sadness of this bloody 20th century, the 
center of unresolved political disputes.
  Mr. President, if you look back at the history of the 1967 war, you 
see that among the Israeli leadership, the possibility of exchanging 
land for a permanent peace was being considered within days after the 
Six-Day war. This was a radical notion in that part of the world--and 
the years it took before the Sinai was returned was a necessary period 
when facing hostile regimes on every border of a narrow state. But 
Israel has always demonstrated its willnessness--in fact, its 
insistence--on cohabiting in the region, and cooperating to do so--as 
long as its sovereignty and right to exist are recognized. These 
notions were at the heart of an unformulated peace process then as they 
are in a more formal peace process now.
  It is up to the democratically elected government of Israel to 
determine the direction and content of that process today, as it is up 
to Israel's Arab neighbors to accept the reality of the Jewish state.
  But one issue has been left more muddled than it should be: the 
status of Jerusalem. This issue has been debated on this floor for over 
a decade. I believe that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and I have 
joined many colleagues in expressing that it should be the policy of 
the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the undivided capital of 
Israel, and to cease the artificial posturing that has kept our Embassy 
in Tel Aviv. This is what we declared when we passed the Jerusalem 
Embassy Act of 1995, and what we reiterated in our recent resolution, 
Senate Concurrent Resolution 21, congratulating the residents of 
Jerusalem on the 30th anniversary of reunification. With these acts, 
Congress recognized a geopolitical reality. There are times when doing 
so can enhance the management of peace, by declaring, once and for all, 
what are the feasible parameters of a negotiated peace. These acts of 
Congress were such times. If the peace process continues, it will 
progress more certainly on solid ground. I continue to encourage the 
administration to join us in correcting a diplomatic anomaly that we 
have visited on our closest ally in the Middle East for too long.
  Mr. President, I offer my deepest congratulations to the residents of 
Jerusalem, to the citizens of Israel, and to all who appreciate the 
peace and openness that has reigned over that city since it was 
reunited 30 years ago.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to celebrate the 30th 
anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem and support the 
resolution offered by my distinguished colleagues from New York and 
Florida in marking this auspicious occasion. Psalm 122 admonishes us to 
``pray for the peace of Jerusalem.'' This biblical verse is as apt now, 
on the 30th anniversary of the Holy City's reunification, as it was 
3,000, years ago.
  Jerusalem knew little peace in the 19 years before 1967. The end of 
Israel's War of Independence left an obscene no-man's land of barbed 
wire, tank traps, sniper posts, and minefields. Israel's former 
adversary left almost no vestige of Jewish history in the historic old 
city untouched, including the destruction of 58 synagogues; Jewish 
gravestones from the Mount of Olives were used to build roads and 
latrines for occupying troops.
  Mr. President, Israel's foes had as much regard for the rights of 
religious pilgrims as they did for religious sites: Jews could not 
visit the Western Wall, and Israeli Muslims were denied access to the 
Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque. During the occupation, the 
Christian population of Jerusalem declined from 25,000 to 10,000.
  On the morning of June 7, 1967, our entire world changed. Israeli 
commandos stormed through St. Stephen's Gate on the northeast side of 
the old city walls and took control over the old city and its 
centerpiece, the Temple Mount. They discovered that occupying troops 
had used the Temple Mount area, including the Dome of the Rock and the 
Al Aqsa mosque, as a huge ammunition dump. Mr. President, what might 
have happened if the ammunition would have exploded, destroying the 
Temple Mount and perhaps the nearby Church of the Holy Sepulcher? How 
great would our spiritual loss have been?
  For the first time since the Romans leveled the city in AD 70, Jews 
controlled the Western Wall--the surviving remnant of Herod's Temple.
  Mr. President, shortly after the end of the Six Day War, Israel did 
something astonishing for a victorious power. Israeli officials assured 
Arab leaders that the Muslims would keep control of the Islamic holy 
places on the Temple Mount. That inspired decision began Jerusalem on 
the road to reunification and began to heal the wounds of centuries.
  Mr. President, I traveled to Israel with my father when I was 21 and 
saw

[[Page S5502]]

a city transformed from that which had seen pain and anguish for 
thousands of years. Where barbed wire and armed soldiers had once stood 
was a magnificent area of trees and grass that now surrounds the 
renovated walls of the old city. I saw a rebuilt Jewish Quarter in the 
old city. But Mr. President, most importantly, I saw for myself that 
free and open access to their holy places for people of all faiths was 
not merely the goal in Jerusalem, it was the rule.
  The city's parks were revitalized. Schools and museums and hospitals 
sprang up. Music and poetry once again rose into Israel's evening sky. 
The people came together as artists, architects, lawyers, and 
theologians in an effort that resulted in a city that no longer just 
survived but lived and breathed. The Talmud proclaims that ``of the 10 
measures of beauty that came down to the world, Jerusalem took nine.'' 
Mr. President, for the first time since those prophetic words were 
first formed, those ``measures of beauty'' saw the light of day.
  Mr. President, the question that those brave, industrious people 
tried to answer is one that we still ask today: How can Jerusalem, 
which means ``city of peace,'' an ancient symbol of humanity's 
aspirations for redemption, become a living city that does not betray 
the promise of its name? An answer tragically eludes us, still today, 
30 years after Jerusalem's reunification.
  The United States Congress has a long-standing commitment to a united 
Jerusalem governed by Israel. Seven years ago, Congress declared that 
Jerusalem ``must remain an undivided city'' and the Jerusalem Embassy 
Act of 1995 unequivocally stated that Jerusalem should remain the 
undivided capital of Israel as a matter of U.S. policy. The resolution 
introduced by my friends Senator Moynihan and Senator Mack clearly 
expresses our conviction that it should be so.
  Mr. President, it is said that ``one prayer in Jerusalem is worth 
40,000 elsewhere.'' This resolution offers the voice of Congress to 
those voices coming from all over our Nation and the world praying for 
peace and prosperity for this most special city of all cities on this 
truly important day.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

                          ____________________