[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 8 (Tuesday, February 1, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E118-E119]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE FRIENDSHIP PACT BETWEEN THE AMERICAN RED CROSS IN 
            GREATER NEW YORK AND JERUSALEM MAGEN DAVID ADOM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 1, 2005

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to share with my distinguished 
colleagues an article in the January 27, 2005 issue of the New York Sun 
regarding the recent announcement by the American Red Cross in Greater 
New York that it intends to forge a partnership with the Jerusalem 
Magen David Adom, a branch of Israel's emergency medical, ambulance, 
blood and disaster services.
  The article, by Meghan Clyne, a Staff Reporter for the Sun, is as 
follows:

       Entering where the international community fears to tread, 
     the Greater New York chapter of the American Red Cross has 
     signed a friendship pact with the Jerusalem Magen David Adom, 
     Israel's Red Cross society. The International Federation of 
     Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies recognizes as full 
     members 181 national Red Cross organizations--including those 
     from Iran, Cuba and North Korea--but not Israel's.
       On February 9, a delegation from the Jerusalem MDA--Magen 
     David Adom means Red Star of David--is scheduled to visit New 
     York as part of a continuing exchange between the societies, 
     to learn from the work undertaken by the New York Red Cross, 
     according to officials from the New York chapter. In late 
     November the New Yorkers journeyed to Israel, where they met 
     with MDA officials in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and visited a 
     settlement to observe how the MDA responds to, and prepares 
     for, emergency situations. At the end of the trip, members of 
     the New York and Jerusalem groups signed a memorandum of 
     understanding making the cooperation official.
       One of the benefits of that cooperation is increased 
     training in responding to terrorist attacks, the CEO of the 
     American Red Cross in Greater New York, Terry Bischoff, said.
       ``Certainly we believe that given issues Israel has 
     unfortunately had to deal with around disasters and terrorism 
     responses, there are things we can learn from them to enhance 
     our response capability,'' she said. In exchange, Ms. 
     Bischoff said, the Americans are more experienced in 
     providing mental-health and other support services to victims 
     of terrorist attacks and other disasters, an expertise the 
     Israelis hoped to learn from in dealing with the aftermath of 
     suicide bombings and other attacks.
       The New York-Jerusalem cooperation ``really builds on a 50-
     year history . . . the American Red Cross has always been 
     supportive of bringing the MDA into the Red Cross movement,'' 
     Ms. Bischoff said. While the MDA is not an official voting 
     member of the international federation, Israel's national Red 
     Cross organization enjoys bilateral friendship agreements 
     with several other countries, including France and Bulgaria 
     in addition to America. Ms. Bischoff said those agreements--
     and greater working relationships between the MDA and other 
     nations' Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations--are 
     helpful to the cause of getting Israel fully recognized by 
     the international Red Cross apparatus.
       For its part, Ms. Bischoff added, the American Red Cross 
     signed a friendship agreement with the MDA in 2002 and has 
     withheld $25 million in dues from the International 
     Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

[[Page E119]]

     societies since 2000. It has continued, however, to make 
     contributions to the field work of the International 
     Committee of the Red Cross.
       The director of the international department of Magen David 
     Adom, Yonatan Yagodovsky, said he did not see the lack of 
     formal international recognition as a major stumbling block 
     to the MDA's work. ``This is a political obstacle that will 
     be overcome,'' Mr. Yagodovsky said.
       He said that while the MDA still hopes to receive official 
     recognition, ``there aren't any clouds above the relationship 
     between Magen David Adom and the international movement.'' 
     Mr. Yagodovsky cited the MDA's recent tsunami-relief work 
     alongside other Red Cross societies as an example.
       Magen David Adom was established in 1930 and was denied 
     admission to the international Red Cross community by one 
     vote in 1949, a year after Israel declared statehood.

  Mr. Speaker, I request that my colleagues join me in recognizing the 
American Red Cross in Greater New York for its forward-thinking 
agreement with Jerusalem Magen David Adom. It is my hope that the 
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will 
soon join its New York chapter and officially recognize Magen David 
Adom as a full member of the organization.

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