[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 70 (Wednesday, June 3, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E995-E997]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    SPEAKER GINGRICH AND DEMOCRATIC LEADER GEPHARDT SHOW BIPARTISAN 
    CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                 FOUNDING OF THE MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 3, 1998

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, last week a bipartisan congressional 
delegation led by our colleagues, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich 
and Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt, visited Israel to celebrate 
50 years of friendly relations between the Congress of the United 
States and the State of Israel.
  This was an extraordinary occasion, Mr. Speaker. The visiting Members 
of Congress spent many hours in serious and substantive meetings with 
the President, the Prime Minister, leading members of the Israeli 
Cabinet, and our counterparts who serve in the Israeli Knesset across 
the whole political spectrum.
  During this visit, Mr. Speaker, significant remarks were made on a 
number of occasions by the leaders of the U.S. Congressional 
delegation. Two speeches on two separate occasions, however, stand out 
in my mind as being particularly important. The first was the address 
to the Knesset by our Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on May 26. The 
second was the speech by Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt at the 
Gala Dinner at the Israeli Knesset Honoring Fifty Years of 
Congressional-Israeli Friendship on the evening of May 25.
  Mr. Speaker, I include these two addresses to be included in the 
Record, and I urge my colleagues to consider thoughtfully these two 
statements on the importance of the United States relationship with 
Israel as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the 
modern state of Israel.

 Address of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich 
                  to the Israeli Knesset--May 26, 1998

       Speaker Dan Tichon and Mrs. Tichon, ministers and deputy 
     ministers of the government of Israel, members of the 
     Knesset, former Knesset, speaker Shlomo Hillel, former 
     members of the Knesset my congressional colleagues, 
     distinguished guests and friends--and as I look out, I see 
     friends, many of whom go back for many years.
       It is a great honor to stand before you today in the 
     Knesset, the one truly democratic parliament in the entire 
     Middle East. For 50 years, the Knesset has led a nation that 
     has gathered in people from over a 100 lands, survived the 
     perils of many wars and built a thriving nation out of the 
     desert.
       As we celebrate the remarkable achievements of the last 50 
     years, let me simply say ``Kol ha kavod''-- to you.''
       Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt and I have joined with the 
     largest bipartisan gathering of congressmen and senators ever 
     to visit Jerusalem. We are here to celebrate the 50th 
     anniversary of Israel's rebirth as a modern state. We 
     commemorate 50 years of a close and cooperative relationship 
     between our two countries and our two peoples.
       In a sense, however, we are not only celebrating the last 
     50 years. The American and Israeli people are bound together 
     by 3,000 years of a shared and ancient tradition. We are 
     bound together by a common spiritual experience. It is a bond 
     that is felt most powerfully here in this city. As we 
     overlook Jerusalem, and look at the sights that touched the 
     lives of Abraham, David and Christ, we understand the depth 
     of a relationship that is far more than shared geo-political 
     interest.
       We are bound together morally. Our two countries are 
     committed to freedom, democracy, the rule of law and 
     individual rights.
       We are bound together by pure friendship. It has been a 
     privilege for me to return to Israel and spend time with our 
     leaders, some of whom I've known for almost 20 years for 
     Marianne, it has been a chance to see friends she worked with 
     on the Israeli free trade zone issues.
       A member of our delegation, Congressman Tom Lantos, a 
     survivor of the Holocaust, first visited Israel in 1956. And 
     this is his 57th trip to visit Israel. Two key chairmen in 
     our delegation, Bob Livingston and Ben Gilman, have coupled 
     their leadership in Congress with a deep understanding and 
     love for the land and people of Israel. Another member, 
     Congressman Henry Waxman, returns to Israel often to visit 
     his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren who live here.
       The ties that bind America to Israel are greater than the 
     economic and security interest that our nations share. We are 
     two nations grown from a common source--both forged by the 
     courage and imagination of pioneers, and both expressing in 
     our founding documents our ultimate reliance on divine 
     providence.
       As we celebrate with you, we remember together the courage 
     of David who established Jerusalem 3,000 years ago as the 
     political and spiritual capital of the Jewish people. We 
     commemorated that event the last time Marianne and I saw 
     Prime Minister Rabin alive at an event in our Capitol, in the 
     rotunda, to celebrate the 3,000th anniversary of Jerusalem. 
     Prime Minister Rabin spoke with deep emotion of his own ties 
     of Jerusalem, the city where he was born and the city he 
     fought to defend throughout this life. We in Congress stood 
     with him then and stand with you today in recognizing 
     Jerusalem as the united and eternal capital of Israel
       We remember the commitment of the early Zionists who 
     convened the first Zionist congress a century ago, lived 
     through the horror of the Holocaust, and finally witnessed 
     the birth of a Jewish homeland in Eretz Israel.
       We remember the story of the last 50 years, of a state that 
     has survived wars and countless acts of terrorism to maintain 
     its place among the nations.
       We remember with you because we believe that the 
     anniversary of Israel's rebirth is not just a celebration for 
     Israel alone. It is a celebration for all who are inspired by 
     the faith that was born in this land. It is a celebration for 
     all who see in Israel an outpost in the struggle for freedom 
     across the globe. And it is a celebration for all who see in 
     the fundamental relationship between our two countries a 
     remarkable history and a great hope.
       For we are here to celebrate more than the first 50 years. 
     In a sense, we're here to celebrate the first 3,000 years.
       And we're not just here to look ahead with you for the next 
     50 years. We dream of how we--and our children--can build a 
     future that holds more than the hope for mere survival--a 
     future that can lead to a lasting prosperity, an enduring 
     peace and a truly free land.
       Such a future--one marked by peace, prosperity and 
     freedom--must be built upon an unending commitment to 
     security for those who seek peace.
       One of our greatest presidents, Ronald Reagan, had a simple 
     strategy to expand freedom across the globe. It came down to 
     three words: peace through strength. He knew that strength 
     was the key to security and that security was essential to 
     peace. He knew that a lasting peace required a durable 
     security.
       This truth was reinforced for me in a personal and powerful 
     way during this trip to Israel. On Sunday, we visited the 
     Weizmann Institute where we met with some of your most 
     talented scientists to learn about the technological 
     breakthroughs that will shape our mutual future. As we were 
     leaving, I spoke to Manuela Dviri, whose son Yoni was killed 
     in Lebanon on February 26 of this year. A 20-year-old staff 
     sergeant from Kfar Saba, he served in an intelligence unit 
     and died when a mortar round struck his position. Manuela 
     had, in Abraham Lincoln's

[[Page E996]]

     words, ``laid the most costly sacrifice on the altar of 
     freedom.'' She had lost her son. She still has another son 
     and a daughter and a granddaughter. Yet she said to me--
     unequivocally--that she did not believe peace could come 
     without security and this was her formula: ``You should not 
     need two words,'' she said, ``Peace has within it the word 
     security. When you say peace, it must include security or it 
     has no meaning.'' While this tragedy has deprived Manuela of 
     Yoni, I know the deepest hope that she has for her 
     granddaughter, Gali, is a future of peace, freedom and 
     security.
       We join Manuela Dviri and the rest of the Israeli people in 
     their aspirations for peace. No one can understand the depth 
     of that aspiration unless they have lived so long without 
     peace. And no one can hope to achieve true peace unless it is 
     always coupled with true security. The peace process must 
     ensure that Israel will retain the ability to protect its own 
     citizens from terrorism. It must ensure that Israel maintains 
     secure borders with its neighbors. Without establishing those 
     realities, it cannot succeed.
       For this reason, we support the Clinton administration when 
     it says that Israel alone must determine its security needs. 
     We cannot allow non-Israelis to substitute their judgment for 
     the generals that Israel has trusted with its security. If 
     Israel is to take risks for peace, as she has often done in 
     the past, it must be risks she accepts, not risks that are 
     imposed upon her.
       While the peace process is designed to provide security 
     within Israel and on her borders, perhaps the greatest threat 
     is beyond the peace process. Israel and the United States now 
     face a growing threat beyond the horizon--weapons of mass 
     destruction in the hands of outlaw dictatorships.
       Through our victory in the Cold War, the United States and 
     its allies defeated Soviet communism. In the subsequent 
     years, however, rogue regimes in countries like Iraq, Iran, 
     North Korea and Libya emerged from the shadows of the 
     vanishing Soviet empire. In the hands of these dictatorships, 
     weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them 
     have become a dangerous threat to Israel, to the United 
     States and to our allies.
       Like few others on the planet, Israelis know the real 
     palpable threat from dictatorships that are methodically 
     developing these weapons and delivery technologies. In 1991, 
     28 Iraqi Scud missiles rained down on Israel, inflicting 
     casualties and portending Israel's vulnerability. We, too, 
     know the consequences of these weapons. Thirty-eight young 
     Americans were killed when an Iraqi Scud struck their 
     barracks in Dhahran.
       Despite the partial effectiveness of Patriot missiles, at 
     times our only defense was the inaccuracy of the Scuds 
     themselves. In our review of the Gulf War, we discovered that 
     not one Scud or Scud launcher was confirmed as destroyed on 
     the ground in Iraq despite a great effort to do so.
       Since 1991, rogue dictatorships have relentlessly worked to 
     improve both their weapons of mass destruction and their 
     delivery systems. Nevertheless, in some quarters, there is a 
     breathtaking avoidance of what these facts imply. If 
     dictatorships work while democracies talk, a catastrophe will 
     become inevitable. For democracies to survive and 
     dictatorships to fail, we must establish a vision of a secure 
     democracy and we must implement three parallel strategies to 
     achieve that vision. Our success must be built on the 
     strategies of containment, defense and replacement.
       First, we must put unrelenting pressure on anyone assisting 
     these outlaw dictatorships with their weapons programs. We 
     cannot have normal relations with governments, either 
     tolerating or encouraging assistance to these dictatorships, 
     whether the governments are active participants or 
     acquiescent partners.
       Due to Russian assistance, Iran will reportedly be able to 
     manufacture its own medium-range ballistic missiles by the 
     end of this year, capable of striking Israel and parts of 
     Europe.
       Russia has also assisted Iraq with its own weapons program. 
     It is time for our patience with the Russian government to 
     come to an end.
       It should be clearly communicated that Russia's 
     relationship with the United States and Israel--and other 
     nations of the West--will suffer if its actions do not match 
     its commitments. The same message should be expressed to 
     others, including China, who assist these countries in their 
     nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs. We have a 
     range of policy instruments at our disposal, including 
     diplomatic and economic levers, and we should be prepared to 
     use them.
       The United States must make clear that stopping Iraq and 
     Iran from acquiring weapons of mass destruction is its most 
     intense goal. And we should organize our allies to jointly 
     prevent these dictatorships from acquiring weapons of terror.
       Second, we cannot rely solely on containment to protect us 
     from rogue dictatorships developing these capabilities. As 
     these countries develop more and more accurate guidance 
     systems for their missiles, with increasingly virulent 
     biological and chemical warheads, it will become even more 
     urgent to develop effective defenses against these systems.
       In the United States today, we do not have the military 
     capability to stop even one theater or intercontinental 
     ballistic missile from reaching its target. Our senior 
     military officers would be reduced to scanning the horizon 
     like the rest of us, watching for the missile that could 
     destroy our city, our family, our home. We are totally 
     vulnerable. But we are told that a 25-year-old treaty with a 
     nonexistent entity--the Soviet Union--prevents us from 
     responding to this danger.
       Israel, not bounded by an outmoded dogma, is taking steps 
     to develop missile defense, and we're assisting in those 
     efforts. We have joined the Israeli government in the Arrow 
     Ballistic Missile Defense Initiative to protect your citizens 
     from this very real threat. The Arrow program is a tribute to 
     the ingenuity and determination of the people of Israel to 
     forge an effective defense for your homeland. The United 
     States must aggressively develop both theater and global 
     missile defenses to complement and reinforce the protection 
     Arrow will provide here in Israel.
       Containment and defense provide interim security, but they 
     cannot by themselves guarantee success. As long as individual 
     dictators or regimes based on hatred work to develop terror 
     weapons, all democratic societies will be threatened with 
     catastrophe. A single nuclear, chemical or biological device 
     in one of our great cities would create a tragedy of 
     unthinkable proportions.
       Our third strategy must be to pre-empt catastrophe by 
     insisting that dictatorships be replaced with democracies. 
     Clearly, the free world has the capacity to liberate the 
     people of Iraq. Clearly, the free world has the resources to 
     encourage the people of Iran to complete the process of 
     change which hopefully began with the election of President 
     Khatemi.
       We need the will, the courage and the determination to work 
     together to replace dictatorships seeking weapons of terror 
     with democracies seeking friendship and economic prosperity.
       This vision of democratic success and the failure of 
     dictatorships will require the same level of courage and 
     commitment that in World War II defeated Nazi Germany, 
     fascist Italy and imperial Japan. It will require the 
     unrelenting persistence that for 45 years methodically 
     contained; defended against; and in concert with the Russian 
     and other captive peoples, ultimately replaced a communist 
     dictatorship with fledgling democracies. Those democracies, 
     while still struggling, have advanced freedom dramatically 
     from the police state they replaced.
       Free peoples who've faced down and defeated these dangers 
     should see today's dangerous but fragile dictatorships for 
     what they are: Our opportunities to expand freedom.
       Sustaining security and establishing freedom will lead not 
     only to peace, but also to economic prosperity. If we achieve 
     peace through security in this region, the economies will 
     flourish. They will flourish, first, because open borders and 
     free trade produce wealth. No one should know this better 
     than the Palestinians. When acts of terror force Israel to 
     seal its border, it is the Palestinians who suffer most. They 
     lose access to the strong Israeli economy, and 100,000 
     Palestinians are cut off from their jobs. When regional 
     tensions chokes off commerce, it is Israel's neighbors who 
     suffer most. Open borders and free trade allow others to 
     share in Israel's economic growth.
       In addition, the region's economies will flourish as broad 
     cooperation solves the most pressing problems in the next 50 
     years. Nowhere is that cooperation more vital than in dealing 
     with the shortage in the region's most precious resource, 
     water. Water has always been a central security concern in 
     this land. Hezekiah enhanced Jerusalem's security 
     dramatically when he protected the Gihon spring, his water 
     source, by extending the walls of the city. Today, water is 
     an equally critical security concern with the future of 
     aquifers like the Yarkon as a principal issue in the peace 
     process.
       Right now, the United States gives incremental assistance 
     to manage the problem. It has provided hundreds of millions 
     of dollars to the Palestinians, primarily to tap new sources 
     of water and manage the existing ones. In addition, it has 
     assisted other countries in the region by providing them with 
     Israeli expertise on things like drop irrigation and water 
     recycling. Each of these efforts does assist countries that 
     have a large and growing water deficit. They ultimately have 
     a marginal impact, however. Our challenge for the next 50 
     years is to find the strategic solution to the shortage of 
     water in the region. We must do more than manage an ever-
     scarcer resource. We must support the scientific and 
     engineering advances that will erase the shortage of water 
     forever.
       Israel, the country that caused the desert to bloom, must 
     lead this effort. From the cisterns of Massada to the drip 
     irrigation of today, Israel has learned how to preserve a 
     scarce resource. Today, it is the world's leader on those 
     questions. In the future, Israel should become the world 
     leader on expanding the supply of water. It has both the 
     regional need and the human capital to lower the cost of 
     desalinization and end the shortage of water for the region. 
     The United States has already invested in sharing Israeli 
     expertise with the region, learning to manage a scarce 
     resource. For the future, leadership demands that we do more 
     than simply manage the current options. We, the United 
     States, must invest with Israel to overwhelm the shortage of 
     water with research that will provide fresh water from an 
     abundant source--the oceans that cover most of our planet.
       Our joint efforts for the future are built on the close 
     relationship between our two countries. This relationship has 
     been fostered in

[[Page E997]]

     a sustained way by the United States Congress. The strong 
     personal bond that members of Congress feel toward Israel has 
     led to consistent support for the state, reaching back to 
     congressional resolutions as early as 1922 that supported a 
     Jewish homeland in Palestine. Congress approved its first 
     package of aid to Israel--$65 million--in 1951. Congress 
     pressed to maintain Israel's qualitative military edge. It 
     provided emergency military assistance during the Gulf 
     War. Congress approved $10 billion in housing loan 
     guarantees in order to absorb the flood of Jewish refugees 
     from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. It is Congress 
     that enacted legislation in 1955 that requires our 
     government to move its embassy to Jerusalem, finally 
     recognizing the fact that Jerusalem has been Israel's 
     capital for the last 50 years.
       As speaker of the United States House, I want to initiate a 
     far more direct relationship between the Knesset and the 
     Congress. Today, Speaker Tichon and I are inaugurating a new 
     U.S.-Israel interparliamentary initiative on strategic 
     cooperation to be pursued by members from the U.S. Congress 
     and Knesset. This effort was conceived by Chairman Uzi Landau 
     of the Knesset's Foreign and Defense Affairs Committee, and 
     Senator Jon Kyl of the U.S. Congress. The initiative will 
     focus on security issues, particularly the crucial question 
     of missile defense. It offers an excellent starting point for 
     broadening and deepening the interaction between the Congress 
     and the Knesset.
       The relationship we are establishing between Congress and 
     the Knesset will not be unique. As democracy spreads across 
     the region, as it inevitably will, we should work together to 
     broaden the interaction with other democratic parliaments.
       As we celebrate Israel's 50th anniversary, we honor those, 
     both American and Israeli, whose commitment to security and 
     freedom ensured Israel's survival. Today we must draw 
     inspiration for their example.
       And let me just close by sharing with you--we've had a 
     wonderful several days. We just had a meeting with your 
     Foreign and Defense Committee that was very direct and very 
     candid on both sides--not quite up to the Knesset standard of 
     bluntness, but we're trying to learn.
       I just want to share with you for one brief moment the 
     magic that you represent. One hundred years ago, this was 
     Ottoman, Turkish land; Russia was czarist; Germany was 
     imperial; China had not yet had the revolution that ended the 
     Confucian domination and the Manchu was still there; Japan 
     was Imperial in every sense; and democracy was a strange idea 
     in only a few countries. One hundred years later, we're 
     gaining. It's painful. It costs lives. We make big mistakes. 
     If you go to the Yad Vashem, you're reminded with heart-
     rending clarity of the cost of being wrong.
       And yet, in America, in Israel, in Europe, in more and more 
     of Asia, in Russia, day by day, this thing that we jointly 
     represent--elect people to speak for you, put them in one 
     room and make them fight it out--this thing is slowly 
     spreading across the planet.
       I am convinced from our trip here that Israeli democracy 
     has never been more vibrant. It's never had a greater range 
     of potential leaders pushing, shoving, arguing. It's never 
     wrestled more passionately with the future of Israel and its 
     relation with its neighbors.
       And as an American, I can tell you how much we gained from 
     these days; how stronger we will going home; how much more 
     grateful that you here in the city of David continue to stand 
     for freedom; and how much we want to reach out to work with 
     each and every one of you to make sure that 50 years and 
     3,000 years from now freedom exists in this land.
       Thank you for allowing us to visit.
                                  ____


 Statement of House Democratic Leader Richard A. Gephardt at the Gala 
   Dinner at the Israeli Knesset Honoring 50 Years of Congressional--
                   Israel Relationship, May 25, 1998

       I am honored to join you this evening in celebrating the 
     50th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of 
     Israel.
       The twentieth century has been marked by the worst cruelty 
     and barbarity the Jewish people have suffered in this long 
     history. Born after the Holocaust, this nation was envisioned 
     by Claim Weizmann as ``a resting-place in this terrible 
     world.'' But it has become far more than that--serving as a 
     beacon of justice, freedom, and hope for Jews of all 
     nationalities.
       Your country's democracy and its vibrant economic, 
     cultural, and intellectual life have survived and prospered 
     through nearly half a century of life under a state of war. 
     Served as a source of pride for world Jewry, especially in 
     America, and as a model for many nations.
       Despite facing great adversity and hostility, you have been 
     steadfast in your commitment to democracy. In fact, I am 
     proud to stand here in the citadel of democracy in the Middle 
     East.
       In some ways, this is the greatest deliberative body in the 
     world--few other assemblies have had the courage to carry on 
     free and open democratic debate while facing so many external 
     threats.
       You have had the courage to disagree amongst yourselves. 
     And you have always been united in trying to achieve peace 
     and security in the region. Your dedication to the pursuit of 
     peace in the face of constant threats of war and terrorism--
     across ideology and across the decades--from David Ben Curion 
     and Chaim Weizmann to Menachem Begin, through Yitzhak Rabin 
     to Binyamin Netanyahu--has garnered admiration and respect 
     from millions around the world.
       The American people's affinity and respect for the people 
     of Israel is based on the pioneering spirit which both our 
     people share. This has formed the core of the special bond 
     between our two countries. And this is why the U.S.-Israel 
     relationship is one of the strongest bilateral relationships 
     in the world.
       The U.S.-Israel relationship is also a tribute to the 
     American Jewish community, many of whom have worked 
     tirelessly over the years to keep our nation's leaders 
     focused on the importance of this relationship, and some of 
     whom are here tonight.
       In fact, the American-Israeli relationship began in part as 
     a result of the efforts of one American Jew who had a very 
     influential friend in the White House.
       In his memoirs, Harry Truman described an important moment 
     in the development of his conviction about the creation of 
     the state of Israel. His long-time friend Eddie Jacobsen 
     urged Truman to meet with Dr. Weizmann.
       Truman had been putting off the meeting, but at Jacobsen's 
     urging, he relented. According to Truman:
       ``Dr. Weizmann came on March 18, and we talked for almost 
     three quarters of an hour. He talked about the possibilities 
     of development in Palestine, about the scientific work that 
     he and his assistants had done that would someday be 
     translated into industrial activity in the Jewish state that 
     he envisaged.
       ``He spoke of the need for land if the future immigrants 
     were to be cared for, and he impressed on me the importance 
     of the Negev area in the south to any future Jewish state.
       ``Dr. Weizmann was a man of remarkable achievements and 
     personality. His life had been dedicated to two ideals, that 
     of science and that of the Zionist movement . . . He had 
     known many disappointments and had grown patient and wise in 
     them.''
       At this same time, the U.S. State Department attempted to 
     have President Truman keep the territory under United Nations 
     trusteeship rather than recognize a new Jewish state. George 
     Marshall threatened to quit the Cabinet if Truman were to do 
     this. George Kennan, one of America's most respected foreign 
     policy experts, wrote to Truman:
       ``Ultimately the U.S. might have to support the Jewish 
     authorities by the use of naval units and military forces . . 
     . It is improbable that the Jewish state could survive over 
     any considerable period of time in the face of the combined 
     assistance which would be forthcoming for the Arabs in 
     Palestine from the Arab States, and in lesser measure from 
     their Moslem neighbors.''
       I would also note that Truman's approval rating at the time 
     was 36 percent, and an election was looming that November. 
     But despite all this, eleven minutes after Israeli leaders 
     declared the existence of their new state, President Truman 
     took a momentous step in recognizing Israel's security.
       So from the beginning, it was in part through the efforts 
     of Jewish-Americans that the relationship was formed and 
     continually strengthened. Every person here tonight should be 
     proud of their work to build on this partnership which has 
     benefitted both the United States and Israel. And your 
     efforts must continue so our children can stand here fifty 
     years from tonight and celebrate once again.
       President Truman wrote a letter to Dr. Weizmann six months 
     after the founding of the Israeli state, and its words ring 
     as true today as in 1948. The letter read:
       ``I want to tell you how happy and impressed I have been at 
     the remarkable progress made by the new State of Israel. What 
     you have received at the hands of the world has been far less 
     than was your due. But you have more than made the most of 
     what you have received, and I admire you for it.''
       As a fellow Missourian, I can do no better on this occasion 
     than to simply restate to you and the people of Israel Harry 
     Truman's words: ``You have more than made the most of what 
     you have received, and I admire you for it.'' But with a 
     half-century of hindsight that President Truman did not have, 
     I am confident that the best is yet to come for the State of 
     Israel.

     

                          ____________________