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October 14, 2002
Re: Emergency Aid to Israel
Urgent Action Needed
Urge Senate and House Leadership to Include $200 Million in a Continuing
Resolution
On August 13th, President Bush pledged to provide Israel with $200 million
in anti-terror assistance it would have received as part of a larger
emergency supplemental bill passed by Congress. On September 5th, the
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations included the $200
million in the fiscal year 2003 Foreign Aid bill.
As Congress adjourns next week without completing the Appropriations
process, Israel is at risk of not receiving the $200 million in additional
emergency aid. These funds will provide Israel with vital additional
resources to help fight the war on terror and to protect its population
from possible attack resulting from a potential U.S. conflict with Iraq.
Both President Bush and Congress support it, including the anti-terror
assistance, as part of the overall Foreign Aid Appropriations bill. If, as
is likely, there is no independent Foreign Aid bill enacted before
Congress adjourns, the only way to ensure the passage of the supplemental
aid bill to Israel is to include it in a Continuing Resolution or as an
attachment to one of the few anticipated pieces of legislation that
Congress passes before ending its work.
Urgent Action Needed
Call House and Senate members today and urge them to ask the House and
Senate leadership to include the $200 million for Israel in a Continuing
Resolution or whatever final legislative vehicle Congress passes before
its adjournment. Contact your Senators and Representatives at:
Representative
_________________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: (202) 225-3121 |
Senator
____________________
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel: (202) 224-3121 |
Below are talking points that you may choose to use in
your message to Congressmen and Senators:
• This aid helps fight the war on terror: No nation has been subject to
more horrific and relentless terror attacks than Israel. This assistance
will provide Israel – a key U.S. ally and front-line state in the war
against terror – with vital additional resources to help fight its war on
terror and to protect its population. Israel is a close U.S. partner in
the war against terrorism and provides key intelligence information and
technology to support the U.S. effort.
• Israel facing rising costs for war on terror: Israel has immediate and
urgent military and financial needs as it fights Islamic and Palestinian
extremists within Israel, Hezbollah terrorists on its northern borders and
faces the escalating threat of unconventional missile attacks from Iraq.
At a time when Israel’s economy is in a recession as a result of its war
on terror, its projected increases in military expenditures for 2002 will
be higher than ever before. Costs for the U.S.-led war on terrorism
average $2 billion a month so one can imagine that Israel’s costs, while
much less, are straining Israel’s far more limited resources.
• Emergency aid sends a strong signal of support: This $200 million
emergency supplemental aid will send a strong message to those seeking to
destroy Israel – that U.S. support for Israel is as strong and unshakable
as ever. At a time when Israel is isolated in the world and fighting a
very lonely battle against the forces of extremism and fanaticism, U.S.
support for a supplemental package would send a loud and mistakable
message – that the United States stands strongly with Israel and will
provide her with the assistance she needs to remain strong and secure.
This message of unshakable U.S. support needs to be heard, not just by
Israel’s enemies, but by the people of Israel now more than ever before.
Urge your Senators and Representatives to include the $200 million
supplemental emergency anti-terrorism aid for Israel in a Continuing
Resolution or whatever final legislative vehicle Congress passes before
its impending adjournment. This much-needed aid is crucial as daily
terrorist attacks and threats from neighboring state sponsors of terrorism
have caused a growing economic crisis as Israel seeks to protect her
citizens.
Write or call your Representatives and Senators using the talking points
listed above. Contact your Senators and Representatives at:
Representative
_________________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Tel: (202) 225-3121 |
Senator
____________________
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Tel: (202) 224-3121 |
For more information, please call us at (212)
613-8123.
RBS
BE
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