[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 113 (Thursday, August 1, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H5336-H5337]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2145
                   JERUSALEM AS THE CAPITAL OF ISRAEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Franks) is 
recognized for the remainder of the time until 10 p.m. as the designee 
of the majority leader.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. I thank Congressman Griffin for the 
opportunity here. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time.
  Mr. Speaker, the tiny Nation of Israel began in earnest more than 
3,000 years ago. Since that time the people of Israel have faced more 
heartaches, threats of annihilation, bigotry, torture, and genocide 
than any other people in the history of humanity. Yet even today, in 
2013, against all odds and opposition, the noble people of Israel 
remain. And the peace of Israel continues to be the linchpin of peace 
for the entire world.
  Today Israel faces another catastrophic challenge among the many in 
its long struggle throughout history that threatens to end its 
existence as a nation. The greatest challenge Israel faces today is the 
growing threat of a nuclear armed Iran. This is a menace that also 
threatens the peace and security of the entire family of mankind.
  Mr. Speaker, Israel has been our truest friend and ally in the Middle 
East now for approximately 65 years, and during that entire time it has 
faced many unthinkable threats from enemies who desire to see its 
absolute annihilation. Now more than ever before the United States of 
America and the nation of Israel must stand together against the threat 
of a nuclear Iran and against those who would see our two nations and 
all those we love and all those who love human freedom eradicated from 
the face of the Earth.
  One of the most important ways America can send a signal to the world 
that there is no space between us and Israel is to transfer our Embassy 
to an existing, newly constructed consulate in Jerusalem and once and 
for all make it clear that the United States officially and 
unequivocally recognizes Jerusalem as the undivided capital city of the 
state of Israel.
  This is something we should have done a long time ago, Mr. Speaker. 
However, there has never been a more important time to do it because 
the world today, including some of our most dangerous enemies, doubt 
America's resolve to stand with Israel. And the actions of the Obama 
administration would create such doubt in any reasonable person's mind. 
For instance, when it was announced that the Israeli Government had 
completed one more step in the permit process for building houses in 
Jerusalem, the Obama administration openly rebuked Israel and demanded 
that they do several things by way of ``penance'' for building houses 
for its citizens.
  Now Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you how bewildering it is for me as an 
American Congressman to hear our own American President expressing more 
outrage toward Israel for building homes in its own capital city than 
he has expressed toward a madman like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for building 
nuclear weapons with which to threaten the peace and security of the 
entire world.
  Mr. Obama demanded that the permits be canceled, despite the fact 
that every Prime Minister of Israel has allowed them in their capital. 
Mr. Obama told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a 
``substantial gesture'' towards the Palestinians and release 
Palestinian prisoners. Mr. Obama has made no such demands of the 
Palestinians, and the Palestinians have made no such concessions. In 
fact, Mr. Speaker, every concession that Israel has ever made for 
decades has been met and responded to by violence and terror.
  Nevertheless, President Obama is continuing to insist that Israel 
publicly state its willingness to negotiate the division of Jerusalem 
and the right of return for millions of descendants of Palestinian 
refugees to Israel. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, no President in our history 
has been more bent upon isolating our friends and emboldening our 
enemies as this President.
  And Mr. Speaker, it places Israel in a great conundrum. For if, on 
the one hand, they take military action to halt Iran's nuclear program, 
the world--including this administration--will openly condemn them and 
they will face intense isolation and hostility from the international 
community.
  On the other hand, if they do not take action and they allow Iran to 
gain nuclear weapons, they face the real and imminent possibility that 
Iran will either directly or through its proxies unleash a nuclear hell 
on Earth that will annihilate their tiny homeland.
  It is perilous beyond description for us all, Mr. Speaker, that the 
leader of the free world doesn't seem to understand the gravity of 
allowing the Iranian regime and the Government of Iran today to gain 
nuclear weapons capability. It is vital for those of us in Congress to 
make it clear that America's commitment to Israel remains steadfast and 
that Israel's enemy is America's enemy.
  Once again, Mr. Speaker, America should make a major effort and make 
a major statement to that effect by transferring our Embassy to 
Israel's capital city, Jerusalem. This move would require nothing from 
American taxpayers. It could happen by selling the current Embassy in 
Tel Aviv, and that could even bring a substantial upside to America 
financially. This is something that we need to do for the sake of 
making it clear to the world that we will stand by Israel.
  America has established bilateral relations with so many nations 
across the world, and in each case we have recognized their capital 
city. Yet when it has come to the State of Israel, our most critical 
and cherished ally on this Earth, Israel's capital city of Jerusalem is 
the only one in the world which we have yet to recognize.
  Ironically, Mr. Speaker, it was America that was the first nation on 
Earth to recognize Israel as a nation, a mere 11 minutes after Israel's 
declaration. President Harry Truman said:
  I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it 
now. I believe it has a glorious future before it--not just as another 
sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of human 
civilization.
  Mr. Speaker, if America now ignores the opportunity to be the first 
to fully recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital city, can we truly 
claim that we are Israel's nearest and dearest friend? And, can we 
honestly say that we are fully committed to our own principles?

  The majority of Israel's citizens and leaders have yearned for their 
capital city's recognition by the people of the world and, moreover, by 
the people of the United States for so very long. Israel's capital city 
houses its government framework, including the Israeli Parliament, the 
Knesset, the Supreme

[[Page H5337]]

Court, the Bank of Israel, its diplomatic corps of the Israeli Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs, and the Prime Minister's and President's offices. 
And very significantly, Jerusalem surrounds many of Israel's most 
sacred remembrances, including the tombs of the fallen soldiers on 
Mount Herzl, as well as the symbol of the most insidious injustice ever 
endured by the Jewish people, the Holocaust Museum--Yad Vashem.
  Mr. Speaker, not so long ago one of the Members of this House said 
very eruditely and arrogantly: ``I don't take sides for or against 
Israel, and I don't take sides for or against Hezbollah.'' I believe, 
Mr. Speaker, that that is more dangerous, that kind of moral 
equivalence, that kind of moral neutrality, it's more dangerous to 
humanity than terrorism itself.
  Ronald Reagan gave an address in 1983 when the world faced a similar 
threat in the growing strength and nuclear ambition of the Soviet 
Union. He stated:
  I urge you to beware the temptation to ignore the facts of history 
and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms 
race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the 
struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.
  Mr. Speaker, we cannot remove ourselves from that struggle.
  Let us all be reminded that we have been here before. The free 
nations of the world once had opportunity to address the insidious rise 
of the Nazi ideology in its formative years, when it could have been 
dispatched without great cost. But they delayed, and the result was 
atomic bombs falling on cities, 50 million people dead worldwide, and 
the swastika's shadow nearly plunging the planet into Cimmerian 
darkness.
  You know, it is said that those who survived the Holocaust achieved 
their revenge through simply living. Rather than allowing their faith 
and their hopes to be crushed by the atrocities of the past, they chose 
instead to dry their tears and to look up and to begin building again. 
And indeed they did build again. They built a future and a family and a 
community and a nation. And Mr. Speaker, the God of Jacob honored their 
courage. The threat of the Nazis is no more, and one day this threat of 
global jihad will be no more.
  Mr. Speaker, recognizing Jerusalem as the rightful capital of Israel 
is not solely an act of foreign attributes and powers. It is the noble 
act of courage and justice that comports with everything that America 
is. We have assisted the Jewish people in restoring their ancient 
state. We must now act and recognize her restored ancient city, 
Jerusalem.
  Together, we can ensure that Jerusalem continues to be a center for 
answered prayers and dreams come true. And I pray that the United 
States will be the first nation to officially and formally recognize 
Israel's capital city and to transfer our Embassy to Jerusalem. This 
will undeniably affirm our commitment and our resolve on behalf of 
Israel. And we will be standing steadfastly on our own Declaration of 
Independence, as well, Mr. Speaker, as on the right side of history.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I would just pray that the light of God's 
peace will shine down upon the streets of Jerusalem forever.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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