[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 82 (Thursday, June 12, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S5590]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE REUNIFICATION OF JERUSALEM

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, today, I would like to comment on this 
historic anniversary that we have reached. Today marks the 30th 
anniversary of the end of the Six-Day War, and the reunification of 
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. It is not only a landmark for the 
people of Israel, and for Jews around the world, but for people of all 
faiths and all nationalities.
  The 19 years that East Jerusalem was under the control of Jordan saw 
Jews and Israelis denied the chance to visit the holy sites in the 
eastern side. The dividing walls and the barbed wire have now come 
down. When Jerusalem was reunited, Israel opened the city up to all 
faiths, and that practice continues. Jews, Christians, and Muslims now 
mingle freely in the entire city.
  Reunification did come at a great cost--the price paid was the Six-
Day War. Israel launched a preemptive strike against the Arab troops 
massed against her, and was successful. It ended the dividing of 
Jerusalem, but it did not end the gunfire. There is still turmoil in 
Israel.
  However, although the Mideast peace process is by no means over, we 
have perhaps reached a point, as described by Churchill, at the end of 
the beginning. The recognition and continuation of Jerusalem as the 
undivided capital of Israel is crucial to the ongoing peace process.
  The United States Congress has recognized this fact, and through a 
series of actions has sought to insure that an undivided Jerusalem is 
the capital of the State of Israel. Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, 
in 1990, declared that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital and 
called for Israel and the Palestinians to undertake peace negotiations. 
This war later cited by Prime Minister Rabin as having helped bring 
participants of the Declaration of Principals on Interim Self-
Government Arrangements to the negotiating table. In 1995, the 
Jerusalem Embassy Act stated as a matter of U.S. Policy that Jerusalem 
should remain the undivided capital.
  We now celebrate the 30th anniversary of the reunification of 
Jerusalem, and affirm our desire for that ancient city to remain 
reunited eternally. I ask, too, that Jerusalem eternally remain a 
symbol of freedom where all religions can share in visiting the holy 
city and be a model for religious tolerance and freedom throughout the 
globe.

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