Honoring Israel's 66th Independence Day
Floor Speech
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Mr. MEADOWS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership and truly for this time where we have come together to not only celebrate the 66th anniversary of Israel, but a time of remembrance.
As important as a celebration may be each and every year, we must reflect back on what brought this Nation to be. It was really rooted many years prior to its birth in unbelievable tragedy, grief, oppression, when almost 7 million Jews--moms, dads, sons and daughters, husbands and wives--were killed and terminated in a way that many of us can only try to grasp why that could have possibly happened in this world.
Yet today, we see that the antisemitic rhetoric throughout much of Europe has grown to levels that we have not seen since those days of Hitler. So we must take this day and every day to make sure that we voice not only our support for Israel, but our support for a Jewish nation in which America enjoys a great partnership and friendship, but truly an unyielding resolve of brotherly affection.
So today, I thank the gentlewoman for her time and allowing me to speak on this particular issue. But it is important that we remember that even though there was years ago a great tragedy, that today if we do not speak up that things can continue to happen and be a downward spiral, for right at this moment as we speak there are some 100,000 missiles aimed at Israel.
We can live in relative peace and comfort here in America, yet in cities and neighborhoods all across Israel they have to live in fear of a siren going off and a missile perhaps coming in. Yet, it is this partnership and friendship that we have with Israel that must remain solid and be strong.
We have a country that is some 10,000 square miles in Israel, surrounded by 5.2 million square miles of oil-rich country. Yet Israel has no iron, no gold, no silver, no lead, no oil to speak of, and yet over and over again she is attacked. And so you have to ask yourself, why? Why is it that so many people call Israel the aggressor when the missiles are aimed towards her?
I stand today to not only thank the gentlewoman for her time, but also to acknowledge the greatness of Israel, our friendship that is unyielding, and to say Happy 66th Independence Day.
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