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“THANKING AMERICA'S DIPLOMATS FOR SUKKOT ASSISTANCE” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E2252 on Nov. 3, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THANKING AMERICA'S DIPLOMATS FOR SUKKOT ASSISTANCE
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HON. GARY L. ACKERMAN
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my sincere thanks to the men and women of our Embassy in Egypt and, particularly, to Ambassador Francis J. Ricciardone. I also want to commend Assistant Secretary David Welch, Deputy Assistant Secretary Liz Dibble and a host of their colleagues in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. I am pleased to report to the House that through vigorous behind-the-
scenes engagement with the Government of Egypt, America's diplomats made a critical difference for millions of Jews across America and around the world celebrating the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I began to receive reports that merchants purchasing the palm fronds used for ritual celebrations of the holiday, were discovering that their historic supply in Egypt was in jeopardy. In previous years, Egyptian palms had provided the overwhelming proportion of the roughly one million palm fronds used for the holiday. As commanded in the Bible, Jews celebrate Sukkot with
``the four species''--a lulav, composed of palm, myrtle, and willow branches, and a citron, an aromatic but inedible citrus fruit called an etrog--that are used to sanctify the holiday.
This year, however, Egyptian agriculture officials, reportedly concerned about the health of Egypt's orchards of date palms, ordered a cessation of the harvest and export of palm fronds expected by Jewish communities around the world.
For those unfamiliar with the holiday, a sudden palm frond shortage may have seemed a bit odd, if not downright absurd. I would compare it, however, to a situation where 2 weeks before Christmas, people began to suddenly discover that there were no Christmas trees available for sale, or that those few trees on the market were undersized, illegally cut and only available for triple the normal price.
I am proud to say that once informed of the situation, our diplomats acted swiftly, speaking forcefully on behalf of the entire United States and drawing upon the strong and deep ties between our government and Egypt's. Again and again over a 2 week period, our diplomats pressed officials in the Egyptian government to increase the number of cuttings available and to ensure their successful export. And here, I also want to express my thanks to Egypt's ambassador, Nabil Fahmy and his staff at the Egyptian embassy for their very important role in conveying the seriousness of this problem to their colleagues in Cairo.
In the end, I believe there was enough. The Egyptian government heard our concerns and did the best it could to accommodate our needs. Ultimately, I'm told the restrictions on cuttings were effectively lifted in the last hours. There were shortages in some places, some people had to pay more than usual, and more people had to share than in years past, but no one, to my knowledge, was unable to fulfill the religious requirements of the holiday.
Mr. Speaker, the week-long festival of Sukkot celebrates the fall harvest and is often referred to in Hebrew as z'man simchataynu, ``the season of our rejoicing.'' I can tell you, there would have been a lot less rejoicing absent a lot of hard work by America's diplomats. I know the whole House will join me in thanking them for this extraordinary effort.
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