[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 51 (Wednesday, May 3, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E710]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        RECOGNIZING 58TH ANNIVERSARY OF ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. DAVID SCOTT

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 2, 2006

  Mr. SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one 
of this country's most important allies in the War on Terror, the State 
of Israel. Fifty-eight years ago today, at 4 p.m., 5th day of the 
Hebrew month of Iyar, David Ben Gurion read the Israeli Declaration of 
Independence over the radio ending 2,000 years of exile and persecution 
and fulfilling God's promise to return the Holy Land to the hands of 
the Jewish people.
  The Israeli government was founded to ``ensure complete equality of 
social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of 
religion, race or sex,'' principles we here in this country cherish as 
well. By holding regular free elections, Israel has been an oasis of 
democracy in a vast desert of theocracies, serving as a beacon of hope 
for oppressed people everywhere.
  In less than 60 years, this open society has allowed the country to 
prosper economically, creating vibrant agricultural, industrial and 
technological sectors virtually from scratch and leading to successful 
foreign trade agreements. Israel has worked tirelessly to promote peace 
in the Middle East by achieving peace accords with Egypt and Jordan, an 
idea that would have seemed impossible in 1948. The Jewish State's many 
positive contributions to the world community exemplified by the Nobel 
Prizes in economics, chemistry, literature and peace that have been 
awarded to its citizens.
  It is hard to believe that all of this has come out of a country no 
bigger than New Jersey and that it perseveres in the face of constant 
adversity. If one of the main planks of our foreign policy is to spread 
democracy and promote freedom around the world, then I can think of no 
better way to accomplish that goal than by strengthening the bond 
between our countries and offering it as an example to the rest of the 
world.
  Israel Independence Day, or Yom Ha'atzmaut in Hebrew, provides Jews 
in this country an opportunity to demonstrate their solidarity with and 
strengthen their alliance with the State of Israel. It is fitting, 
then, that I stand here at the beginning of the very first Jewish 
American Jewish Heritage Month in which we will celebrate the 352 year 
history of the Jews' contributions to American culture.
  Therefore, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting this 
resolution, congratulating Israel on 58 years of independence and I 
look forward to building an even stronger relationship with our friends 
in the years to come.

                          ____________________