[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 7681]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        ISRAEL INDEPENDENCE DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JOE BACA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 27, 2004

  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to commemorate the 56th 
anniversary of Israel's independence.
  For 56 years, Israel has faced existential threats. Born out of the 
ashes of the Holocaust, Israel has offered its shores to the most 
vulnerable of the world's Jewry.
  Israel is a refuge to the persecuted and has rescued Jews from 
Germany, Morocco, Iraq, Iran, Cuba, Ethiopia, Russia and other 
countries where Jewish minorities were threatened.
  She has persevered because to fail would take away the one safe haven 
that Jews around the world have from historical charges and anti-
Semitic acts.
  It was 56 years ago that the Jewish State of Israel declared its 
independence and became the first and only democratic nation in the 
Middle East.
  In those 56 years, Israel has defended itself from war, terrorism and 
anti-Semitism. It has endured unbearable losses and terrible 
sacrifices.
  As U.S. troops fight in Iraq, a safe and democratic Israel becomes 
ever more important. America stands side-by-side with the only 
democratic nation in the Middle East and commemorates the 56th 
anniversary of its independence.

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