[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 51 (Thursday, April 30, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H2695-H2696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CONGRATULATIONS TO ISRAEL ON ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, we have heard some contentious discussion 
of our partisan divisions. I rise for a task that I think is far more 
joyful and one as to which this entire body is united, and that is I 
rise to congratulate the people of Israel on the 50th anniversary of 
their rebirth and independence.
  Today represents the 50th anniversary of Israel, as determined by the 
Jewish lunar calendar. And it is with great joy that I point out that 
House Joint Resolution 102 was adopted by this House 2 days ago by a 
vote of 402 to nothing, demonstrating the united and bipartisan support 
that the State of Israel and the close U.S.-Israel relationship enjoyed 
in this House.
  We should reflect that in August of 1897, a century ago, the first 
Zionist Congress affirmed its aspiration to form a Jewish homeland in 
the historic State of Israel. After the horrors of the Holocaust, in 
which one-third of the Jewish population of the world lost their lives, 
the Jewish people returned to their ancient homeland and established 
the State of Israel.

[[Page H2696]]

  Since the Nation's founding, over a million Jews from throughout the 
world have sought refuge in Israel. Israel has, over the last 50 years, 
rebuilt a nation, maintained a pluralist democracy, the only one in the 
Middle East, and based that democracy on freedoms and the rule of law. 
It has developed a thriving economy and a society, transforming the 
desert into a land of milk and honey.
  On this 50th anniversary we have a chance to reflect on the courage 
and leadership of President Harry Truman who, against the advice of 
experts in the State Department, et cetera, stood with the people of 
Israel and recognized their declaration of independence.
  Over the last 50 years, governments of the United States, both 
Democrat and Republican, have supported the people and the State of 
Israel. Likewise, governments of Israel, Likud and Labor, have 
supported the people and the government of the United States. We have a 
friendship that transcends party; and whichever policies may rule the 
day in Jerusalem or here in the United States, that bond stands.
  We should note that Jerusalem has been the eternal and indivisible 
capital of Israel, both 3,000 years ago and for the last 50 years. The 
United States Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act calling for the 
American Embassy to Israel to be moved to Jerusalem in 1999. What 
better way for us to celebrate the rebirth of the State of Israel than 
for the State Department to announce today that they will abide by, 
rather than seek waivers from, the Jerusalem Embassy Act.
  But because the State Department may decide to try to waive that act, 
I will be introducing, hopefully with substantial support, a bill that 
states to the Department of State that, before they open a new embassy 
in another formerly divided city, Berlin, they must open at least a 
temporary embassy, and, hopefully, a permanent embassy, in the 
indivisible and eternal capital of Israel: Jerusalem.
  I rise today to congratulate the people of Israel on their 50th 
anniversary of the new State, and I rise today to say that when it 
comes to America's embassy to Israel: next year in Jerusalem.

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