Rep. McCarthy Signs Amicus Brief Asserting Jerusalem as Capital of Israel

Press Release

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY4) today signed on to an amicus brief being submitted to a federal court that asserts Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a position she asserted with a similar amicus brief last year and as far back as through her vote for the Foreign Relations Authorization Act in 2002.

The amicus brief is to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the upcoming case, Zivotofsky v. Secretary of State (No. 07-5347), pertaining to the right of a person living in Jerusalem to request "Jerusalem, Israel" be printed on official U.S. birth or passport records, as opposed to the Bush and now Obama State Department practice of not allowing "Israel" to be printed alongside "Jerusalem."

This second amicus brief on the matter comes a day after White House spokesman Jay Carney avoided numerous questions asking if the White House considers the capital of Israel to be Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

Even though Congress passed a law in 2002 requiring the federal government to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel, the Bush and Obama Administrations have been fighting this law in the courts as a matter of Congress's ability to legislate such matters.

"The Obama Administration, like the Bush Administration before it, may see this is simply a matter of the separation of powers between the executive branch and Congress, but at the heart of this case is the powerful and significant recognition that Jerusalem is the one and only true capital of Israel, and anyone who wants to assert that on their passport or birth certificate should be allowed to," Rep. McCarthy said.

After voting in favor of the 2002 law, Rep. McCarthy signed on to an amicus brief to the Supreme Court along with 45 of her colleagues in 2011 in favor of the concept of Jerusalem as capital of Israel.

"I hope the court agrees with my colleagues and me and that the executive branch reverses this longtime slight and sends a clear and direct message in support of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," Rep. McCarthy said.

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