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[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.
____________________