[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8618]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ADMITS ISRAEL

  (Mr. MORAN of Kansas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Madam Speaker, the Organization for Economic 
Cooperation and Development unanimously voted to admit Israel last week 
as its newest member. The decision to welcome Israel into this group of 
30-plus nations is significant recognition that Israel has much to 
offer the world and a setback to international efforts to delegitimize 
the Jewish State.
  Israel is a democratic nation with an economy based on free market 
principles. It shares American goals of creating prosperity and new 
economic opportunities. Israel's high tech- and innovation-driven 
economy has been one of the world's strongest. It grew last year during 
the worldwide economic downturn and is expected to grow by 3.7 percent 
this year. As a member of OECD, Israel will offer an important 
perspective on global challenges and will help nations solve difficult 
problems. I congratulate Israel for overcoming unfounded objections to 
its membership and look forward to the contributions Israel will make 
to this international body.

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