[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 180 (Monday, November 6, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          BALFOUR DECLARATION

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                           HON. LEE M. ZELDIN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, November 6, 2017

  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the centennial 
anniversary of the Balfour Declaration and the significance it played 
in the formation of the state of Israel.
  This significant sixty seven word statement, that carne to be known 
as the Balfour Declaration, was the stepping stone in the reformation 
of a modern Jewish sovereign state. It was the first public recognition 
addressing the need to recognize the rebirth of a national home for the 
Jewish people and their historical link to the land of Israel. This 
concept was later reaffirmed by the international community at the 
Treaty of Sevres, San Remo, League of Nations and United Nations. This 
declaration represented the Jewish peoples' strong desire to return to 
their eternal homeland. This deep passion gave the Zionist movement 
widespread international recognition that few movements have ever seen.
  In 1922, the United States Congress passed a joint resolution, the 
Lodge-Fish Resolution, which committed the United States' support of 
the establishment of a Jewish State, by reproducing the exact text of 
the Balfour Declaration.
  Mr. Speaker, Israel has since become one of the United States' 
greatest allies and hopefully the bond between our two great nations 
will only continue to grow stronger.

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