Today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.
President Donald J. Trump
FULFILLING A PROMISE: President Trump kept his promise by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and opening the U.S. Embassy there.
On December 6, 2017, President Trump kept his promise, announcing that the United States would begin recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and officially open our Embassy there.
Congress urged the President to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel with the bipartisan 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act – a call unanimously reaffirmed by the Senate in 2017.
After decades of past Presidents committing to move the Embassy to Jerusalem on the campaign trail, only to renege on those promises while in office, President Trump has fulfilled his promise to support one of America’s strongest allies.
More than two decades of waivers delaying the Embassy move brought us no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
President Trump has made clear that old challenges demand new approaches, and that he will keep his word to the American people.
On May 14, 2018, the United States officially opened our Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel, 70 years to the day that President Truman recognized Israel as an independent country, making the United States the first nation to do so.
President Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and advanced peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Announcing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is simply a recognition of reality.
Israel is a sovereign nation and, like every other sovereign nation, has the right to choose its own capital. Yet for 70 years we neglected to extend this basic courtesy to Israel that we extend to other countries.
Jerusalem is the seat of the modern Israeli government. It is the home of the Israeli Parliament and the Israeli Supreme Court. It is the location of the official residence of the Prime Minister and President, as well as the headquarters of many government ministries.
STRIVING FOR PEACE: The Trump Administration continues to work to achieve a comprehensive peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The Trump Administration remains committed to achieving a lasting and comprehensive peace agreement.
Recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital is a necessary condition for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
President Trump has been clear that his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel does not mean the United States has taken a position on final status negotiations.
The Trump Administration believes that such decisions should be worked between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Trump Administration supports the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites.
FULFILLING PROMISES QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY: After announcing the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, President Trump quickly and efficiently opened the Embassy in Israel at a low cost to taxpayers.
President Trump opened the Embassy in Jerusalem in just six months, compared to the seven to ten years expected to build an entirely new and secure permanent embassy.
Initial modifications allowing the Embassy to open on May 14, 2018, cost just $400,000.
United States diplomatic staff in Israel has worked around the clock to ensure the Embassy was ready to open by May 14, 2018.
The Trump Administration has begun updating all Federal Government maps to reflect Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital under American policy.
To celebrate the opening of the United States’ new Embassy in Jerusalem, the Trump Administration sent a high-level delegation, led by Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan and including Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor Ivanka Trump, and Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt.
Related news story from the UN News Center: Security Council calls for calm following deadly Gaza clashes; diplomats debate US embassy move
The United Nations Security Council, in an emergency meeting on Tuesday, called for calm along the border of the Gaza Strip following Monday’s deadly clashes, in which dozens of Palestinians were killed, protesting United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the official opening of its embassy there.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/05/1009792
Senators Murray, Cantwell and Representative Kilmer Announce Major Federal Investment in Tacoma Link Light Rail Expansion
Press release from Congressman Kilmer's webpage issued 5/ 14/ 18Following repeated urging from lawmakers, Federal Transit Administration approves $75 million in federal funding for the project through its Capital Investment Grant program Project will extend existing downtown light rail service to Stadium business district, medical facilities, Hilltop neighborhood, improving access and spurring local economy
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and U.S. Representative Derek Kilmer (D-WA) announced a new $75 million grant from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to Sound Transit to expand the Tacoma Link light rail line in downtown Tacoma. This grant is made possible by FTA’s Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program, a program championed by all three Members of Congress. The Tacoma Link light rail expansion will more than double the lines current length, add six transit stations, and improve bicycle and pedestrian access. The expansion will make critical connections to the City of Tacoma’s historic Stadium business district, Medical Mile, and Hilltop neighborhood.
“As communities in and around Tacoma continue to grow, we have an opportunity to make sure transportation options for workers, students, patients, and families keep up. Expanding the Tacoma Link light rail to the Medical Mile and Hilltop communities is a major step forward that will increase access to safe, reliable transportation, and facilitate economic development in the city,” Senator Murray said. “The federal government can and should be a good partner to local communities and support transportation solutions—like expanding the Tacoma Link—and I will continue working with my colleagues in Congress to strengthen investments that help make these solutions a reality in our communities.”
“By expanding light rail to the Medical Mile, Hilltop neighborhood and the Stadium district, Tacoma commuters will see more transit options for getting around the city because of the Tacoma Link Expansion project. With 127,000 new residents expected in Tacoma by 2040, this project lays the tracks for accommodating new economic growth and better connecting residents to their jobs and community while helping reduce congestion,” said Senator Cantwell.
“Investing in infrastructure projects like Tacoma Link creates local jobs and gives more people new ways to get to work that don’t involve sitting for hours in traffic or shelling out big bucks for parking,” Representative Kilmer said. “This is good news for the City of Destiny because light rail connects workers to jobs, shoppers to businesses, and neighborhoods to each other. I’ll keep pushing for smart investments in infrastructure that grows our local economy and creates jobs.”
“I am pleased to finally bring this project, and the associated living wage jobs, to the Hilltop community,” said Tacoma Mayor and Sound Transit Boardmember Victoria Woodards. “Not only will it provide more connection to downtown for people to reach jobs, education, and other services, but the Tacoma Link Extension will also spur dozens of private projects – from housing to restaurants to professional services – that the community has been working toward in Hilltop for more than a generation.”
Senators Murray, who created the TIGER program in 2009, Cantwell, and Representative Kilmer have been vocal supporters of the Tacoma Link expansion for years: Senators Murray and Cantwell successfully advocated for a $15 million TIGER grant the project received in 2015. All three Members of Congress have fought to strengthen investments in the CIG program, which supports public transportation projects in communities across the United States, and were strong supporters of Sound Transit’s efforts to extend the Tacoma Link light rail line, including working to secure the $75 million in funding for the project in the Fiscal Year 2016 federal budget. Senators Murray, Cantwell, and Representative Kilmer pressed Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in a letter in February to execute the project’s previously approved Capital Investment Grant. Senator Murray also further questioned Secretary Chao about the grant’s stalled execution during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing last month. In March, Senator Cantwell pressed Secretary Chao on funding transit systems throughout the Puget Sound region in a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on transportation infrastructure.
Background on Tacoma Link Light Rail Expansion Project
In 2008, local residents voted to expand downtown Tacoma’s existing Link light rail system as part of the Sound Transit 2 Plan. The Tacoma Link expansion project, also known as the Hilltop Tacoma Link Extension, is a partnership between the City of Tacoma and Sound Transit. The project will add 2.4 miles to the existing 1.6 mile light rail line, for a total system length of 4 miles, add six stations, relocate the Theater District station, and improve bicycle and pedestrian access. The project will feature transit signal priority and includes the purchase of five new vehicles. The expansion will connect downtown Tacoma to the Stadium and Hilltop Districts, where 25 percent of residents are low-income and 30 percent of households have no vehicle, and will provide access to Tacoma’s “Medical Mile,” which includes major hospitals and medical centers, and five educational facilities serving nearly 17,000 students.
According to Sound Transit, the Tacoma Link expansion will feature departures every 10 minutes during peak periods and every 20 minutes during off-peak and evening periods on weekdays. On weekends, service is planned for every 10 minutes. Transit trips are expected to increase from 1 million to 3.5 million annually, which would be a daily ridership increase of nearly 85 percent. The City of Tacoma has identified numerous economic development opportunities within a five minute walk of the expansion and Sound Transit estimates this project could result in $320 million in economic development within the community. Sound Transit expects to begin operations of the expanded Tacoma Link in 2022.
🌍WORLD NEWS HEADLINES FROM THE UN NEWS CENTER, AND OTHER SOURCES...
UN PRESS RELEASE: Amid Unprecedented Confrontations over Syria, ‘Careful Diplomacy’ Vital to Support De-escalation, Avert Miscalculations, Special Envoy Tells Security Council
The intensity of international confrontations over Syria during the last month were unprecedented since 1973, the Special Envoy told the Security Council today, underscoring the need for “careful diplomacy” to support de-escalation, avoid miscalculations and facilitate genuine communication about sustainably ending the conflict.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sc13342.doc.htm
Clean Energy Makes Economic Sense, Secretary-General Underscores, in Remarks to Austrian World Summit
Following are UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ remarks to the R20 Austrian World Summit, in Vienna today:
I am very pleased and very honoured to be with all of you today. I thank the Government of Austria and the R20 for promoting the low‑carbon infrastructure we need to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to implement the Paris Agreement and with enhanced ambition as the targets that were fixed in Paris, we all know, will not be enough. We need to have an increased ambition in that implementation. This is a matter of the utmost priority.
https://www.un.org/press/en/2018/sgsm19035.doc.htm
Emergency meeting called as Ebola moves to Congolese city – UN health agency
The World Health Organization (WHO) is convening an emergency meeting on Friday to “consider the international risks” of the latest outbreak of the deadly disease Ebola, which has now moved to an urban area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/05/1009972
UN envoy ‘encouraged’ by latest talks on avoiding ‘worst-case scenario’ in Syria’s Idlib
The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria on Wednesday detailed his most recent efforts to revive stalled peace talks which could end the brutal conflict that has been raging there for more than seven years.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/05/1009912
From the US Mission to the UN:
Remarks at a UN Security Council Open Debate on Upholding International Law within the Context of the Maintenance of International Peace and Security---Ambassador Nikki Haley, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
" Joining the United Nations is an act of sovereign peoples who came together to “reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations large and small…” In this way, the Charter makes a clear connection between respecting human rights and upholding and promoting peace. Respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual is fundamental to international law. It is also fundamental to the founding values of the United States."
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8436
Remarks at a UN Security Council Briefing on the UN Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS)
Amy Tachco Political Coordinator, U.S. Mission to the United Nations
" Following the swift installation of an inclusive government, we call on its members to focus on creating a program of work, achieving service delivery to show they are serious about serving the people who put them in power. In all these endeavors, we encourage the inclusion of civil society and women’s groups. We applaud the influential engagement of the Women’s Forum for Peace and the National Women’s Council, and look forward to the National Forum of Women and Girls for Peace scheduled in Bissau for later this month."
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8435
Ambassador Haley on Cuba’s Human Rights Record
Today, Cuba had its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council, a process that evaluates the human rights records of all UN Member States. In addition to receiving recommendations from other Member States, countries are expected to allow independent civil society organizations to fully and freely participate in their UPR process. However, the Cuban government blocked independent Cuban civil society members from traveling to Geneva to participate in their review process, just as they did last month when they blocked Cuban civil society members from traveling to Peru to participate in the Summit of the Americas.
“A country with a human rights record as abysmal as Cuba’s is no stranger to silencing its critics. But the Cuban government can’t silence the United States. We will continue to stand up for the Cuban people and get loud when the Cuban government deprives its people of their human rights and fundamental freedoms and robs them of free, fair, and competitive elections, denying them the opportunity to shape their country’s future,” said Ambassador Haley.
During Cuba’s UPR, the United States made recommendations that the Cuban government respect the human rights of the Cuban people by allowing free, fair, and competitive elections, stopping the unjust jailing of journalists and activists, and releasing political prisoners.
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8434
Remarks at a UN Security Council Briefing on the Political Situation in Syria
Ambassador Kelley Currie, U.S. Representative for Economic and Social Affairs
Last week, the world witnessed a new and extremely dangerous escalation in Syria. It should not surprise anyone on the Security Council that Iran was responsible. Iranian forces, operating from Syrian territory, launched a rocket attack against Israeli citizens – citizens of a sovereign Member State of these United Nations. The United States strongly supports Israel’s right to act in self-defense.
https://usun.state.gov/remarks/8433
US STATE DEPT: Designation of ISIS-GS as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
The State Department has designated ISIS in the Greater Sahara -- also known as ISIS-GS -- as a Foreign Terrorist Organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The Department has also designated ISIS-GS and its leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists under Executive Order 13224.
https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2018/05/282168.htm
IN THIS WEEK'S EDITION
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Senator Murray, Senate Democrats successfully force vote to pass resolution restoring 2015 Open Internet Rule
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Report Shows Dramatic Growth In Energy Efficiency Jobs, With Washington State Leading The Charge
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IRS accepting applications for 2019 Low Income Taxpayer Clinic grants
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Inslee urges congressional delegation to oppose Farm Bill
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Senator Murray Stands With Senator Gillibrand to Demand Reform of Congressional Policies on Sexual Assault and Harassment
