[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 178 (Thursday, November 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S7003]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 29--RECOGNIZING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF 
                        THE BALFOUR DECLARATION

  Mr. LANKFORD (for himself and Mr. Manchin) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 29

       Whereas the Jewish people have had a homeland in modern-day 
     Israel for more than 3,000 years;
       Whereas on November 2, 1917, United Kingdom Foreign 
     Secretary Lord Arthur Balfour wrote to Lord Walter 
     Rothschild, to be declared to the Zionist Federation, a 
     letter declaring, on behalf of the Government of the United 
     Kingdom, support for a home for the Jewish people in the 
     former Ottoman district of Palestine;
       Whereas this letter, known as the Balfour Declaration, was 
     ratified into international law by the League of Nations on 
     July 24, 1922;
       Whereas on September 21, 1922, President Warren G. Harding 
     signed House Joint Resolution 322, after unanimous support 
     from the House of Representatives and the Senate, favoring 
     the establishment, in the former Ottoman district of 
     Palestine, of a national home for the Jewish people;
       Whereas the Balfour Declaration clearly recognized and 
     sought to uphold the ``civil and religious rights of the 
     existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine,'' as well as 
     the ``rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any 
     other country''; and
       Whereas the Balfour Declaration was a significant part of 
     the chain of events that led to the establishment of the 
     modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) commemorates the centenary of the Balfour Declaration;
       (2) affirms its commitment to maintaining the strongest of 
     bilateral ties with the State of Israel; and
       (3) recognizes the importance of the establishment of the 
     modern State of Israel as a secure and democratic homeland 
     for the Jewish people.

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