[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 80 (Tuesday, May 14, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E591-E592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      OPINION PIECE BY U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL DAVID M. FRIEDMAN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. LEE M. ZELDIN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 14, 2019

  Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to include in the Record the 
following piece authored by U.S. Ambassador to Israel, David M. 
Friedman in honor of the one-year anniversary of the U.S. embassy 
opening in Jerusalem:

   A Year After Opening the Jerusalem Embassy: On the Right Side of 
                                History

       On May 14, 2018, the United States finally opened its 
     embassy in Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem. In making the 
     courageous decision to take this historic step, President 
     Donald Trump not only fulfilled a 23-year-old mandate from 
     the United States Congress but he also recognized a 3,000-
     year-old truth that Israel's enemies have long sought to 
     erase.
       America has been fascinated by Jerusalem since the early 
     days of our republic. In 1844, Warder Cresson, the first 
     consul general, announced after his appointment by the 
     secretary of state that the United States was thereby 
     extending its protection to the Jews of Jerusalem. The first 
     permanent consular presence opened just inside the Jaffa Gate 
     in 1857, and diplomatic presence has remained constant in and 
     around the Old City ever since. President Abraham Lincoln, 
     just before his death, told his wife how he longed to visit 
     Jerusalem. And President Ulysses Grant and Mark Twain both 
     visited Jerusalem in the mid-19th century and wrote 
     extensively about their experiences.
       Neither Grant nor Twain were all that impressed with 
     Jerusalem in those days. It was poor, inhospitable and 
     undeveloped. The Old City of Jerusalem remained that way well 
     into the 20th century, whether under the rule of the Ottoman 
     Empire until 1917, the British Mandate until 1948, or the 
     Kingdom of Jordan until 1967. In 1967, Jerusalem was 
     reunified as a single city under Israeli rule. Almost 
     immediately, Jerusalem began to

[[Page E592]]

     bloom, to flourish and to become, for the first time in its 
     history, a free city open to the worshipers of all three 
     Abrahamic faiths. Many in the United States took notice and, 
     in 1995, Congress, by overwhelming majority votes, passed the 
     Jerusalem Embassy Act, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital 
     of the State of Israel and requiring the relocation of the 
     U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
       Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama 
     all found reasons to avoid the implementation of this law. 
     All in all, more than 40 presidential waivers were signed 
     delaying the move of the Embassy. And then came President 
     Trump.
       Trump recognized the truth--that Jerusalem was, is and will 
     always be the capital of Israel. He saw the dishonest and 
     shameful efforts of UNESCO and the United Nations Security 
     Council to deny Israel's biblical, historical and practical 
     connection to Jerusalem. And he refused to pursue a foreign 
     policy based upon anything short of the truth. President 
     Trump, like other Republican and Democratic candidates before 
     him, had promised during his campaign to move the Embassy. 
     Unlike his predecessors, Trump kept his promise.
       The United States Embassy in Jerusalem has now been open a 
     full year. We have a beautiful campus in the Arnona suburb 
     and magnificent facilities on Agron Street in downtown 
     Jerusalem. Well more than 100 American diplomats come to work 
     every day, working hand in hand with Israelis and 
     Palestinians, and American and foreign tourists visit every 
     day just to take a picture or say a prayer. Contrary to all 
     the negative predictions, the Jerusalem embassy has been an 
     extraordinary success, advancing peaceful coexistence, 
     bilateral cooperation and cultural exchange between and among 
     Israelis, Palestinians and Americans.
       Most of all, the United States Embassy in Jerusalem stands 
     for the truth--the bedrock of all successful policies. Moving 
     our embassy places the United States firmly on the right side 
     of history.

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