[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12589]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 THE STATE OF ISRAEL'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New 
Hampshire (Mr. Hodes) for 2 minutes.
  Mr. HODES. Mr. Speaker, just last month, we celebrated the 60th 
anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel.
  Last year, I was privileged to take my first trip to the Promised 
Land. Israel is the birthright for Jews around the world. As our 
stanchest ally, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, but to 
Jews, it is much more. It is the homeland, the true community that my 
own Jewish ancestors dreamed of when hounded by anti-Semitism, 
repression and violence.
  To truly honor Israel on this 60th anniversary, we must seek a true, 
lasting peace from committed partners to provide for Israel's long-term 
survival, security and prosperity. For Jews in America, we owe it to 
our ancestors to protect the Jewish homeland that they toiled for 
centuries to achieve. We owe to it our grandparents and to our great 
grandparents who never saw the Promised Land. We owe it to our children 
and to our grandchildren, who must always know a world with a Jewish 
homeland. We owe them peace in our time.

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