[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 144 (Thursday, November 3, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THANKING AMERICA'S DIPLOMATS FOR SUKKOT ASSISTANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 2, 2005

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my sincere thanks to the 
men and women of our Embassy in Egypt and, particularly, to Ambassador 
Francis J. Ricciardone. I also want to commend Assistant Secretary 
David Welch, Deputy Assistant Secretary Liz Dibble and a host of their 
colleagues in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. I 
am pleased to report to the House that through vigorous behind-the-
scenes engagement with the Government of Egypt, America's diplomats 
made a critical difference for millions of Jews across America and 
around the world celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
  Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I began to receive reports that 
merchants purchasing the palm fronds used for ritual celebrations of 
the holiday, were discovering that their historic supply in Egypt was 
in jeopardy. In previous years, Egyptian palms had provided the 
overwhelming proportion of the roughly one million palm fronds used for 
the holiday. As commanded in the Bible, Jews celebrate Sukkot with 
``the four species''--a lulav, composed of palm, myrtle, and willow 
branches, and a citron, an aromatic but inedible citrus fruit called an 
etrog--that are used to sanctify the holiday.
  This year, however, Egyptian agriculture officials, reportedly 
concerned about the health of Egypt's orchards of date palms, ordered a 
cessation of the harvest and export of palm fronds expected by Jewish 
communities around the world.
  For those unfamiliar with the holiday, a sudden palm frond shortage 
may have seemed a bit odd, if not downright absurd. I would compare it, 
however, to a situation where 2 weeks before Christmas, people began to 
suddenly discover that there were no Christmas trees available for 
sale, or that those few trees on the market were undersized, illegally 
cut and only available for triple the normal price.
  I am proud to say that once informed of the situation, our diplomats 
acted swiftly, speaking forcefully on behalf of the entire United 
States and drawing upon the strong and deep ties between our government 
and Egypt's. Again and again over a 2 week period, our diplomats 
pressed officials in the Egyptian government to increase the number of 
cuttings available and to ensure their successful export. And here, I 
also want to express my thanks to Egypt's ambassador, Nabil Fahmy and 
his staff at the Egyptian embassy for their very important role in 
conveying the seriousness of this problem to their colleagues in Cairo.
  In the end, I believe there was enough. The Egyptian government heard 
our concerns and did the best it could to accommodate our needs. 
Ultimately, I'm told the restrictions on cuttings were effectively 
lifted in the last hours. There were shortages in some places, some 
people had to pay more than usual, and more people had to share than in 
years past, but no one, to my knowledge, was unable to fulfill the 
religious requirements of the holiday.
  Mr. Speaker, the week-long festival of Sukkot celebrates the fall 
harvest and is often referred to in Hebrew as z'man simchataynu, ``the 
season of our rejoicing.'' I can tell you, there would have been a lot 
less rejoicing absent a lot of hard work by America's diplomats. I know 
the whole House will join me in thanking them for this extraordinary 
effort.

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