Political Quotes

“I thank the members of this committee for allowing the opportunity to present this amendment. The extraordinary work of Mrs. Lowey and Mr. Rogers, as well as Mr. Frelinghuysen and other members of the Appropriations Committee, are deeply appreciated by all of us. This amendment adds an additional $12 million to the Economic Support Fund to increase assistance to the Ethiopian-Israeli community. Through the Middle East Partnership Initiative, our Embassy in Tel Aviv is already engaged in a number of valuable partnerships with the Ethiopian community in Israel. These programs are commendable, and I hope that their funding remains robust. My amendment would extend a modest amount of aid toward a different subset of the community, Ethiopian-Israeli youth. Israel's Ministry of Education recently completed a long-term review to determine how to best meet the needs of the community. The plan that was presented and adopted included approximately $20 million for programs to improve integration of the Ethiopian community into Israeli society, focusing principally on education and, more specifically, language and math skills. Israeli organizations that have focused on this area for years have had great successes. My first visit to Israel was, rather ironically because of today's events, with Mrs. Lowey and other Members. During that period of time, we visited one of the areas where Ethiopian Jews were being absorbed.…”