Hundreds of activists from 19 states across the country, from California to Chicago to Florida to New York, participated in the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)’s Annual Advocacy Mission to Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 6, 2017. Meeting with almost 100 Members of Congress or their legislative staffers, ZOA activists urged Congress to:
1). Support S. 474 and H.R. 1164 (Taylor Force Act), which would stop all aid to Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority (PA) unless it ends all pensions to Jew-killing terrorists and their families, and to end all US aid to the PA unless it fulfills their Oslo commitments particularly the need to stop promoting hatred and violence against Jews in their schools, mosques, media, speeches and children camps.
2). Support S. 722 and H. 1698, which would impose new sanctions and strengthen existing financial sanctions against Iran for it’s ballistic missile program, Iran’s support for acts of international terrorism and ongoing commerce in conventional weapons.
3). Support S. 11 and H.R. 257 which amends the original 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act to eliminate the Presidential waiver on certain funding limitation for the Department of State acquisition and maintenance of building abroad until the US Embassy in Jerusalem has officially opened; and also requires official US documents which list countries and their capital cities to identify Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
4). Support S. 107 and H.R. 373, H.R. 796 and H.R. 2232, which require certification by the State Department that anti-Israel activity is being combated at the UN; prohibits US funding of any UN agency that promotes or condones anti-Semitism, or admits as a member any organization that is involved in anti-Israel activities; prohibits US payments to the UN unless the viciously anti Israel UNSC Resolution 2334 is rescinded; requires the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) to be reformed or US funding will be limited; removes US funding from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) unless specific reforms are enacted; reconfirms US law on denying funding to any UN organization that unilaterally admits the PLO as a member, and requires the State Department to certify that the UN is addressing its anti-Semitic problems.
At the ZOA’s packed Congressional Luncheon, held prior to the congressional meetings in a magnificent room in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington D.C., ZOA activists were joined at the luncheon by many Democratic and Republican U.S. Senators and House Members, an official from the Trump Administration, and other pro-Israel leaders who addressed the ZOA activists. A sampling of the speeches follow:
Addressing the ZOA Luncheon, ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “This is an extraordinary and remarkable time for the Jewish people; Israel controls Jerusalem and most of Judea & Samaria; we have a powerful army, and a friend in the White House in President Donald Trump. He may not be perfect, but no one is, except for our spouses… The Senate voted yesterday 90 to 0 that Jerusalem is the undivided capital of Israel. Compare that to the UN condemning ‘occupation’ and saying that this is what stops peace. The New York Times Review section just carried a big article condemning Israel — by someone who works for George Soros.” Turning to the oft-repeated fiction that Jerusalem is a holy city to Islam, Klein observed, “Jerusalem is not holy to Muslims, we are the only ones stating that truth. It’s a complete falsehood. The Temple Mount is called the Temple Mount, not the Mosque Mount … the majority of people living in Jerusalem since the 1850s have been Jews,” before debunking other claims often advanced to suggest that Jerusalem has been important to Islam since the time of Muhammad. Turning to the false issue of Israel supposedly and illegally occupying Palestinian Arabs, Klein described this as an “Orwellian falsehood. ‘Occupation’ means one country seizing the sovereign land of another country. Israel was the sovereign land of the Jewish people. Romans renamed it Philistinia, a Roman name, after defeating Jews. Until the 1960s, everyone knew that the term ‘Palestinian’ meant Jew… “The Promised Land” was promised to the Jews, not to the Arabs. We are Jews because we come from Judea, just as Arabs come from Arabia. Arabs use the term ‘West Bank’ to de-Judaize Judea and sever our millennia-long connection with it. In 1922, 80% of the British Palestine Mandate was lopped off and given to Transjordan. In 1948, six Arab nations invaded Israel. The Arabs said no to partition, not the Jews. When I offer my house to someone for a specific price and he says no, he doesn’t get it… Israel begged Jordan to stay out of the war in 1967. Jordan captured and illegally occupied Judea/Samaria and eastern Jerusalem in 1948, but there was no PLO demanding to have it when it was in Arab hands. As for today, 98% of Palestinian Arabs live in areas under Palestinian Arab control control. Israel’s ongoing security presence in parts of Judea/Samaria is the primary reason there is far less terrorism in Israel. Turning to the terminology that is used to mislead people and create a propagandistic misunderstanding of the conflict, Klein observed that, “This is an Arab-Islamic war against Israel, not an Arab/Israeli conflict. Don’t use the term ‘Arab-Israeli conflict’. Don’t just say that Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority is not a partner for peace. That’s too weak. Tell the truth that they are an enemy regime. Stop using the term ‘two-state solution.’ Israel is already a state. No one is talking of creating two states, but of creating one state, a Palestinian Arab state. Call it what is is –– the Palestinian State solution. Calling this a ‘two-state solution’ diminishes Israel’s sovereignty. It implies that Israel, until a Palestinian Arab state is created, is something less than a state. Don’t use term West Bank. It was called Judea/Samaria for thousands of years until the 1960s. Calling Judea/Samaria the ‘West Bank’ de-Judaizes it. Don’t use the term ‘settlements.’ They are Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria, the biblical Jewish heartland, not foreign colonies in another country. Stop using the term ‘occupation’ because there is no occupation. Our political, religious, and legal right is much greater than the Arab’s is.” Klein concluded by singing the 1983 Bob Dylan song, ‘Neighborhood Bully,’ who understood the nature of the Arab war on Israel and wrote this song to express the absurd bias, distortion and double-standards that leads to Israel being depicted as a regional bully.
Dr. Sebastian Gorka, Deputy Assistant to President Trump and a prominent Administration spokesman, received a standing ovation when he walked into the room and was introduced by Mort Klein, who described him as, “One of the staunchest allies in support of Israel and in the fight against Islamic terrorism. His dear father was honored by the Jewish community of Budapest for all he did trying to help the Jewish community of Budapest. He was a great warrior fighting dictators.” Dr. Gorka remarked, “That was quite a welcome. Thank you. I am not just honored. I am grateful to what this room represents. I am grateful to fighters like Mort Klein. I would like to thank everyone who supported the administration and individuals in the administration against the smear campaign by those who seek to undermine the relationship between the administration and Israel.. you can expect us to act in ways that comport with the what the Vice-President said on Israel Independence Day, quoting a text given to him by the President to read to us, that we will always stand with Israel. When it comes to specifics, I’m not going to discuss those; that’s not how you make deals. Dr. Gorka also said, “I grew up in a family under the Nazi occupation of Budapest, and then under the communists. If you ever go to the house of terror museum in Budapest, the first thing you see when you enter, you see a mannequin slowly rotating, because his uniform is half communist and half Nazi arrow cross. So that people can understand the linkage between these two totalitarianisms. Left/right is irrelevant. What matters is they are both totalitarianisms –– that seek to crush everyone. Manchester, the knife Intifada, Al Qaeda, ISIS and so on are all the new totalitarianisms. It is an existential fight for our existence. How are we going to win this war? The President says we will obliterate them. We are not here to solve all the problems of the world. It is absurd to say that terrorism is the result of lack of education and poverty. That can be exploited by terrorists, but that’s not the center of gravity. The issue is the terrorists’ ideology … President Trump is not a politician. He is genuine. Behind closed doors he is the same as he is publicly. He has an innate hatred for political correctness. If you are being censored, it’s totalitarianism. The President with his Twitter account, God bless him, is pushing back. The President understands that we are in a war with totalitarianism and is in it to win it … I can tell you that Steve Bannon is grateful for ZOA’s support. Steve is the opposite of the President. He is the eighty pound brain. He is a long-term planner. The third advisor is Jared. He sees his father-in-law’s vision and works to execute it, make it a reality. And we will talk truthfully about the evil that is out there, whether it is in Manchester, London, Tel, Aviv, we will call it out. We will support those Muslims who want to defeat those like ISIS. That’s why we had King Abdullah to the White House, to let them know that we are back on his side … Just as Reagan delegitimized Communism, we must delegitimize the ideology of the jihadists. We will have won when the black flag of ISIS is reviled across the globe as much as the black and red and white flag of the Third Reich.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D–OH) said that he could speak simply about Israel, but that he also had to speak about what bothered him, noting that “I told Prime Minister Netanyahu I know you’re happy with the new President and standing up for Israel, but there’s a lot of anti-Semitism and bigotry in the White House.” Senator Brown said, “I grew up in a Lutheran family in which my faith is important to me. I am familiar with Jewish faith’s fight for social justice. I am concerned with this President’s attitudes towards people who are different,” noting that Jews had played an outsized role in the fight for civil rights in the 1960s. (ZOA fervently disagrees with Sen. Brown’s erroneous descriptions of the Administration).
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK), who is to be awarded the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon Adelson Award on Nov. 12 of this year at the ZOA Brandeis Award Dinner, (Ambassador David Friedman will be receiving the Dr. Bob Shillman Award and Christopher Ruddy will be receiving the Mort Zuckerman Award at the ZOA Brandeis Award Dinner on Nov. 12 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in NYC) and who was the only senator to vote against the Corker-Cardin Iran compromise bill said: “Thank you for inviting Sherrod Brown as my warmup act. Today we’re celebrating the 73rd anniversary of D-Day. We’re also in the middle of the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War in Israel where Israeli soldiers took back all of Jerusalem… We need to move our embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv … [Doing so would be] an important reminder to the Palestinian people that there are certain issues that are just not open to negotiation. The simple fact of the matter is that Jerusalem is and will be the capital of Israel. Israel should not return to the lines from over 50 years ago that are simply indefensible … Presidents come and go. The bedrock is the American people. That’s why I support the Taylor Force Act. We are not trying to remake the world. We are simply saying that you need to cease paying terrorists to kill. If this gets to a floor vote in the Senate, it will pass. The UNSC Resolution 2334 in December was the worst resolution at the UN since the ‘Zionism is racism’ resolution. We are not trying to remake the world, just get the UN to renounce anti-Semitism. I support the Iran Sanctions Act. The Iran deal was a terrible deal and Iran is violating it. Tell your Congresspersons to bring the Act to the floor and to vote for it. Congress can take a lead. ZOA’s advocacy efforts are important. You couldn’t be here during a better week.”
Representative Louie Gohmert (R–TX) said, “When I first met the former PA prime minister, Salaam Fayyad, he said we have something in common, namely, that we had both received our degrees from the University of Texas. I told him, ‘I got my degree from Texas A&M; we have nothing in common.’” Addressing the US embassy issue, Rep. Gohmert quipped, “How about a compromise? Instead of moving the embassy directly from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, first move it to King David’s first capital in Hebron. The tomb of David is in Hebron.” Regarding President Trump’s proposed travel ban from particular Middle Eastern states with high levels of terrorism and little cooperation with the West in fighting it, Rep. Gohmert observed, “We are going to have to get realistic at some point. There will be some nations that have refugees that are a danger to this country. When judges give Constitutional rights to people who are not citizens and have no standing, and are going to share US Constitutional rights with the whole world, with people who hate us, this is insane.” Turning to President Trump’s efforts to produce an Arab/Israeli peace, he said, “Israel gave away land to try to get peace, and the land was used as a staging ground to attack Israel. Netanyahu said, ‘That’s a problem isn’t it?’ Netanyahu has a chance to be one of Israel’s great leaders. All of the greatest leaders of Israel had one thing in common, they called on the nation of Israel to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” He closed by noting that, “the book of Joel states that bad things will befall nations that would try to divide Israel. The US should never be in the position of pushing to divide Israel.”
Frank Gaffney, President of the Washington, DC-based Center for Security Policy, said, “I’m honored to be here with Mort Klein who received our Keeper of the Flame Award. Noting the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War, he said, “I want to bring up two people, Bill and Mark Langfan. Bill Langfan was able to share experiences he had as a 16-year old kid about what would happen if Munich deal was done; he was on beaches of Normandy on D-Day, fought across Europe and helped liberate Buchenwald. This experience shaped his life and his kids’ life to ensure this never happens again. Mark explains why Israel matters so much and is so perilously poised, using topographical maps to explain the peril. He explains not just the importance of territory, but also the importance of the high ground of Judea/Samaria and the the Golan Heights. During those memorable six days 50 years ago, those lands were recovered by Israel, putting to an end threats Israel faced during its first couple of decades of existence. Now once again Israel is being told it must give up the high ground… But there can be no peace if the high ground between Israel and the Palestinians is in the latter’s hands. So whether it’s trying to divide Jerusalem, or make a Palestinian state in Judea/Samaria, no good will come of this, for Israelis or Palestinians. We tried this in Gaza, we tried this in Lebanon and what followed in both cases was an unmitigated disaster. Israel is on the front-line for us in the very dangerous Middle East.”
Representative Matt Gaetz (R–FL): “In my district, we have Israeli pilots training beside our Americans. We’re proud of the F-35, to be delivered soon. It will be part of the strategy to keep Israel’s qualitative military edge. I just returned from my first trip to Israel, with Cong. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. There were a few takeaways from my trip. Israel is doing a tremendous amount of work to improve the quality of life for her people and her Arab neighbors, including in agriculture, medicine, education, energy, and so on … People need to know that Israel is promoting energy, security and education for her neighbors. Nations who get these benefits need to acknowledge this. Israel invested millions of dollars to provide intensive care units for Arab neighbors, and Arabs refused to even put a small plaque saying that this was donated by the generosity of the Israeli people … You need willing partners for peace, and Abbas is no such partner. When you have Abbas naming schools after terrorists and paying terrorists, that is not a partner for peace. The UN is transferring cash to PA with no oversight, and we end up with Palestinian school textbooks that glorify terror … Abbas will never follow the requirements, the commitments under Oslo which he signed … We have to continue investing in Iron Dome and higher level of protection of Arrow 1 and 2 to prepare ourselves from the Iranian threat and Hizballah, which has 150,000 rockets pointed at Israel. Hizballah has had an infusion of cash that makes its missiles more accurate, they have improved technology. As member of House Armed Services Committee, I will fight for funding for David’s Sling system to combat this.” Rep. Gates also paused to praise the new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, saying, “Ambassador Friedman attended the Jerusalem 50th anniversary events. His staff said no, and he said. ‘Who are you to tell me what events I can and cannot attend? … [I] have seem optimism following Trump’s visit to Israel. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I intend to do my part.”
Former Republican Presidential candidate and leader of CUFI Gary Bauer: “It’s a real pleasure to be in a room of American Jews who are at least as pro-Israel as I am. In this city, most people at the first sight of trouble, run for the tall grass, but Mort Klein runs for the front lines …When I felt bad that our embassy did not get moved, I spent some time reflecting on the last eight years. We were living in a time when a US administration was more upset about Jews building homes in Jerusalem than about Iran building nuclear bombs. December’s UN Security Council Resolution 2334 was a shameful vote, a parting present to Israel from the Obama Administration.I’m concerned with our government colluding with a foreign government. I’m talking about President Obama colluding with Iran. Obama secretly negotiated with Iran for 2 years. Then he gave them billions of dollars some in cash. We released Iranian agents. And this is a country that was directly responsible for manufacturing the IEDs that killed American soldiers in Iraq. In the new administration, defending Israel is in, ZOA and CUFI are in; J Street is out.”
Representative David Brat (R-VA): “I wrote the book, American Underog: Proof That Principles Matter, which among others things explains the three pillars of America’s greatness –– the Judeo-Christian tradition, the rule of law and free markets. I also explain in that book why the Judeo-Christian pillar is the central one on which the others depend … James Madison went to Princeton Seminary, where I went. Madison studied Hebrew. Study of Bible and Hebrew formed his world view when writing the Constitution. He understood that, if human nature has fallen, you might need something like our separation of powers. The Left right now is very scared of tyrants. But tyranny comes when all ideas are considered equal. Take godless regimes with a big centralized state, and you end up with the Soviet Union and China and Nazi Germany with millions dead. The rule of law has made the US and Israel exceptional. The rule of law emerges from Israel. from the Bible. and we have a free market, the ideas of Milton Friedman. We know all three are under attack today –– you see this in the hatred of Israel, the attacks on police in the US, the erosion of our liberties .. .What you can do for us is mention Moses and Abraham a lot more. You have to get the Judeo-Christian part first, before policy. Countries that have the three pillars I’ve described have the most human rights, women’s rights, and so on. You fight hard for the US/Israel relationship. Keep doing God’s work.”
Representative Mark Meadows (R–NC), chairman of the Freedom Caucus: “Thank you for being here and for advocating on behalf of God’s people and the Nation of Israel … One of the reasons that I’m in Congress is not just to grill members of the Department of Justice to enforce the Koby Mandell Act that ZOA introduced and got passed, not just to see if people in government are doing their jobs. When my wife and I came here, we asked ourselves, ‘What can I do for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel today?’ It’s in my heart and is my passion. If we do not take the microphone when it’s given, then those who cannot speak for themselves won’t have an advocate on their behalf … If every Jewish person in my district voted against me, I wouldn’t know it. There is only one synagogue in my district and they do not vote for me. They are very liberal. They have about 32 people. I can get a standing ovation when I say that I stand with the nation of Israel in North Carolina, but I can get booed off the stage in New York … I was in the Egyptian embassy about 4-5 years ago, when President Morsi from the Muslim Brotherhood was in power, speaking about what we can do about the Israeli-Egyptian relationship. There were six members of the Muslim Brotherhood there. I shared very firmly that unless they got their attitude right about Israel, there would be no money coming from the US. If we can’t make them see the light, we can at least make them feel the heat … When I was in Budapest, my wife and I went to see the place where thousands of Jews during the Holocaust had been marched and then shot into the river. We saw the places where the Nazis and their Hungarian collaborators would tie three Jews together, then shoot the tow on each end, so as not to waste a bullet while murdering three Jews, who all fell into the river. But that wasn’t all: before that, the Nazis would take their victims’ shoes, because they were thought to have value. My wife and I pledged while standing on the shores of the Danube: Never again would the most valuable thing about a Jewish life be their shoes. Never again.”
Mollie Hemingway, Senior Editor at Federalist, Fox News contributor: “My understanding of Israel has been greatly increased by discussions with ZOA ‘s Josh London. My understanding was nothing until I visited Israel firsthand, and saw that the so-called security wall was actually a fence. I woulds read of the Western Wall being Judaism’s holiest site, instead of just the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. Last week in the New York Times, there appeared three lengthy profiles of Palestinians, including a cancer victim. They were heart-wrenching stories, with no perspective, no examination of how the current situation has emerged, no mention of millions of dollars spent by Palestinians on terror tunnels and to pay terrorists. The stories railed against checkpoints, without mentioning what causes checkpoints to be placed there. I saw a Washington Post story, complete with a photograph of a Palestinian father hugging his dead child, the story being about a Palestinian infant killed by an Israeli bomb. The Washington Post said they had independently fact-checked this. In fact, this was an errant bomb from the Palestinian side that had killed the child. The BBC said that, if Israel can kill a man on a moving bike, how did this man’s child get killed? It said that Hamas rockets are like bee-stings on the Israeli bear’s behind. I hope you also understand that terrorists are manipulating and exploiting the media and using it to their advantage all the time. Mattie Friedman who used to be with AP said that the media is embedded with the anti-Israel NGOs. They come to Israel with little knowledge. ZOA, continue to take time with reporters and journalists in doing the work you do.”
Representative Claudia Tenney (R–NY): “I’m a lawyer, and my district included Binghamton, NY, an air force base. I spent 6 years in the New York State Assembly. That’s where I was introduced to Jewish issues, including issues regarding Chassidic Jews in the Catskill area … I worked in the Yugoslav consulate in the 1980s. My son attended the Jewish Community Center in Utica, NY. The JCC in Utica wanted to reach out to help the Bosnian Muslims, and bring them to Utica for safe haven. It made me realize how strong the Jewish faith is and how far Jews are willing to go to help. I learned from Chabad Rabbi Hecht in Ulster County … We support your initiatives and Israel. I’m looking forward to legislation that will assist you, so please reach out to me … Thank you for all you have done, including interfaith council which has been important for maintaining stability in our region.”
Representative Ron DeSantis (R–FL): Fifty years ago, we saw an improbable victory, in a war that could have ended Israel’s existence .. We hear all about not upsetting the peace process, delaying the embassy move. Well, if you want to improve their behavior, moving the embassy is the best thing you can do … We can’t keep paying the Palestinian Authority when they give money to terrorists. Israel is what’s right about the Middle East … We have to shake up our State Department. There is also a growing problem of anti-Semitism on college campuses and on the left … I appreciate you guys here at ZOA, because you have moral clarity about the issues that Israel is facing … We have to finally designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. We have an Administration that sees things much more clearly than the previous one did, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not going to continue to agitate to move the embassy.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R–TX): “G-d bless ZOA. I’m here in the spirit of celebration and to say thank you. There is no organization in America like ZOA. There is no pro-Israel leader in America with the clarity and ferocity of Morton Klein. I’m glad that the people here speak truth to lies, bring light to darkness. What characterizes ZOA is a relentless commitment to the truth … I gave a speech celebrating Israel’s victory when her enemies sought to drive Israel into the sea. The threats are every bit as dire today, with the nuclear threat from Iran. But we have a lot to celebrate, in that Barack Obama is no longer president. We have a lot to celebrate in that John Kerry is no longer Secretary of State. We no longer have an executive branch that is relentlessly hostile to Israel. The Obama Administration undermined Israel. What a relief it is to have Nikki Haley at the UN. Isn’t it nice to have a UN ambassador who knows the difference between the IDF and Hamas? … It’s long past time to move the embassy to Jerusalem. I believe that should have happened on January 20th. Now this Administration is hopeful that a grand peace deal can be worked out. I will count myself as somewhat skeptical. I don’t know how you can make peace with those who want to murder you. Here’s what I’ve told the Administration. No one wants peace more than Israel. But if you want peace, what will further peace, is moving the embassy. The only thing the terrorists respect is strength. If the embassy is moved, Egypt, the Saudis, Jordan will make noise, but privately, they’ll breathe sighs of relief, because they will know that if the Administration has the backbone to do that, then the Administration will have the backbone to deal with Iran … Maybe Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for getting the Israelis and Arabs to see eye to eye … I wish that on January 20th, the Iran deal had been ripped to shreds. But as a minimum, what I would suggest to ZOA, is that you use your collective voice, to submit the Iran deal to the Senate as a treaty, where we will vote it down. It’s amazing how following the Constitution resolves things … [UNSC Resolution 2334 is] blatantly, nakedly anti-Israel. The UN declared that much of Israel is illegal and illegitimate, the Jewish control of the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter and the Temple Mount and the Mt of Olives Cemetery is illegal and illegitimate. When running for president, Obama circulated widely a picture of himself wearing a yarmulka, standing at the Western Wall, which he now has allowed the UN to declare illegally and illegitimately in Israel’s hands. I circulated a bill to defund the UN … 22% of the UN’s funding comes from the US. The objective of the resolution is to get the UN to reconvene and rescind the resolution. That resolution is not a one-time thing. That resolution will be the basis for lawfare and BDS. I refuse to accept that there’s nothing we can do. Some in Congress said we should just pass a resolution disapproving of the UN resolution. But if we actually want change, we have to take action. Call on the leadership in Congress to vote on the legislation. There’s a reason Obama waited until after the election. Bringing this up for a vote gives the Democrats who pretend that they don’t support the Obama administration’s assault on Israel an opportunity to show where they stand. It will give clarity, and be a victory for the Administration if it passes. We need a vote so that people can chose where they stand. We need a vote on legislation I sponsored to defund the PLO until they stop funding terrorism. Not many people know that. When Abbas came to Washington D.C., I wish that Abbas had agreed to stop writing checks to pay terrorists. We have much to celebrate with the new Administration, but there’s more to do. I thank you for your courage and dedication.”
Mort Klein thanked the entire ZOA staff for their hard work in making the ZOA’s Advocacy Mission to Washington, D.C. such a success. Mort offered special thanks to Josh London and Dan Pollak, Co-Directors of the ZOA’s Government Relations Department, who were masters of ceremonies at the luncheon event and led the discussion of issues, for all their work in helping to bring this impressive array of Members of Congress to the luncheon. Thanks were also expressed to Howard Katzoff and the entire ZOA staff for their hard work in making the Mission run so smoothly.