04/03/2008 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS

                 HJR 38-ISRAEL 60TH ANNIVERSARY                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced  the consideration of HJR  38. [Before the                                                              
committee was CSHJR 38(STA).]                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
10:32:13 AM                                                                                                                   
REPRESENTATIVE BOB  LINN, Alaska State Legislature,  presented HJR
. He relayed that  he grew up in Los Angeles and  when he was 12                                                              
he saw some  people run out  of their apartment and  start dancing                                                              
and shouting  in the streets. His  grandparents told him  that the                                                              
happy people were  Jewish families celebrating the birth  of a new                                                              
nation call  Israel. He didn't  have a clue  at that age  what any                                                              
of it  meant, but now  he knows more.  He knows that  the birthday                                                              
of the  sovereign independent  state  of Israel  is May 14,  1948.                                                              
That was  60 years  ago. It  was a  miracle and  that is what  the                                                              
resolution is all  about. There are 11 "Whereas"  lines that trace                                                              
the history of Israel  back some 3,000 years. Israel  is a bastion                                                              
of democracy  with free  speech, free  religion, free  press, free                                                              
elections  and the  rule of  law  in an  area of  the world  where                                                              
that's rare.  For sixty years  the U.S.  and Israel have  shared a                                                              
unique  relationship  and  this  resolution  honors  that  special                                                              
relationship.  That  tiny nation  is  surrounded  by nations  that                                                              
would destroy  it if they could.  It is a nation of  warriors with                                                              
a  military that  is  the envy  of  other nations  worldwide.  The                                                              
friendship  between the  U.S. and  Israel  is an  example of  what                                                              
national friendship and respect ought to be.                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
10:34:55 AM                                                                                                                   
SENATOR  STEVENS moved  to report  CS  for HJR  38 from  committee                                                              
with  individual  recommendations  and  attached  fiscal  note(s).                                                              
There being no objection, CSHJR 38(STA) moved from committee.