Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, for more than half a century, the relationship between the United States and Israel has been a cornerstone of American national security and our commitment to freedom and democracy. During the cold war, Israel provided intelligence and support to our efforts to confront the tyranny of Soviet communism. The experience gained by Israeli soldiers, who fought three major wars against armies equipped with the latest Soviet military equipment, was invaluable to our efforts to devise equipment and tactics to maintain military superiority over the Soviet Union.
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Israel has continued to act as a valuable partner in our efforts to bring stability and freedom to an increasingly volatile and unstable part of the world. In 1991, Israel absorbed numerous Iraqi SCUD missile attacks without retaliating, so as not to fracture the global coalition that was working to oust Saddam Hussein's troops from Kuwait. Throughout its history, but especially in the 1990s and into this decade, Israeli civilians have been killed in enormous numbers in an ongoing campaign of suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism by those who will never countenance the existence of the Jewish State. Even as they mourned their dead, Israelis worked for peace with their Arab neighbors and the Palestinian people.
Most remarkably, despite these existential challenges, Israel has remained a democracy. Surrounded by autocracies, dictatorships and monarchies who have made its destruction a centerpiece of their national identity, Israel has continued to hold regular elections and its politics are some of the most spirited and free-wheeling in the world. Truly, Israel has remained "a light unto the nations.'' Time and again, Israel has sacrificed its security for its values--most recently this summer when the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to reroute part of the security fence.
For many in Congress, AIPAC has been an invaluable asset in helping us to understand the many dimensions of the American-Israeli partnership. AIPAC is effective because it has a long track record of providing policymakers and Members with accurate, comprehensive information about the Middle East. It is not surprising that AIPAC's annual meeting and dinner is an important event for Democrats and Republicans, Members of Congress and administration officials, presidents, governors and mayors. Our attendance is a testament to the esteem in which we hold AIPAC and the partnership between Israel and the United States that it seeks to advance.
I have worked with AIPAC throughout my tenure in Congress and I have found AIPAC members to be dedicated, patriotic Americans who deeply believe that the security of the United States and the security of Israel are mutually dependent. And I look forward to many more years of working with AIPAC and its members to address common threats to our security and to freedom-loving nations around the globe.