Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HR16 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	H.R. No. 16
	1	+	86R3049 SME-D
	2	+	By: King of Parker, Goldman, Price, Toth, H.R. No. 16
	3	+	Miller
2	4
3	5
4	6		R E S O L U T I O N
5	7		WHEREAS, For more than 3,000 years, Jerusalem has played a
6	8		central role in the history and identity of the Jewish people; and
7	9		WHEREAS, Jerusalem serves as a cultural and religious
8	10		inspiration to people around the world; it is the location of the
9	11		holiest site for the Jewish people, the Temple Mount, as well as the
10	12		Western Wall, where the faithful come to pray; moreover, the city
11	13		holds considerable religious significance for Christians and
12	14		Muslims and has been a pilgrimage site for millennia; and
13	15		WHEREAS, The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
14	16		Cultural Organization has passed a series of anti-Israeli
15	17		resolutions in recent years regarding Jerusalem, both at the
16	18		committee level and by the executive board, the governing body of
17	19		UNESCO; these resolutions attempt to erase or minimize the Jewish
18	20		and Christian historical and religious ties to Jerusalem, and they
19	21		unjustly single out our close ally Israel with false accusations
20	22		and criticism; and
21	23		WHEREAS, Numerous archaeological excavations have uncovered
22	24		antiquities which scientifically reaffirm Jerusalem's historical
23	25		significance to Judaism and Christianity; Israel's most
24	26		archaeologically excavated site, the City of David, is believed to
25	27		be the very site recorded in the Bible upon which King David
26	28		established the capital of ancient Israel; international
27	29		delegations of archaeologists from the United States, England,
28	30		France, and Germany have conducted excavations at the site since
29	31		1867, and they have unearthed antiquities from more than 10
30	32		different civilizations, including Canaanite, Israelite, Roman,
31	33		Byzantine, and Persian societies; current excavations of the City
32	34		of David are carried out under the auspices of the Israel
33	35		Antiquities Authority and are held to the highest scientific
34	36		standards; and
35	37		WHEREAS, Significant archeological discoveries unearthed
36	38		from the City of David include the Siloam Inscription, which
37	39		recounts the preparations made by King Hezekiah of Judah for the
38	40		impending Assyrian siege against Jerusalem, consistent with the
39	41		biblical account; clay seal impressions bearing the names of two
40	42		Judean Government officials who are mentioned in the very same
41	43		verse in the Bible; the Pool of Siloam, which served during the
42	44		Second Temple period as a ritual bath for Jewish pilgrims ascending
43	45		annually to the Temple, which stood atop the Temple Mount; and the
44	46		Second Temple Pilgrimage Road, which began at the Pool of Siloam and
45	47		served as the main thoroughfare of Second Temple period Jerusalem
46	48		and carried hundreds of thousands of people on their annual
47	49		pilgrimages to the Temple; located within the City of David, the
48	50		Pilgrimage Road stretches nearly 2,000 feet from the Pool of Siloam
49	51		to the footsteps of the Western Wall and will be open to visitors
50	52		upon completion of the excavation; and
51	53		WHEREAS, These discoveries affirm the undeniable truth that
52	54		the City of David, the Western Wall, and the Temple Mount are
53	55		inextricably linked physically, historically, and symbolically as
54	56		the bedrock of the connection between the Jewish people and
55	57		Jerusalem and have been for millennia; and
56	58		WHEREAS, The Government of Israel has done commendable work
57	59		to protect the freedoms of all faiths in Jerusalem and ensure
58	60		visitors' access to holy sites so that they may worship freely; any
59	61		past, present, or future efforts at UNESCO to delegitimize Israel
60	62		through attempts to rewrite and deny the history of Jerusalem
61	63		should be condemned, and the United States should continue to work
62	64		with allies to prevent UNESCO from passing biased and unjust
63	65		anti-Israeli resolutions in the future; now, therefore, be it
64	66		RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 86th Texas
65	67		Legislature hereby affirm the historical connection of the Jewish
66	68		people to the ancient and sacred city of Jerusalem and condemn
67	69		efforts at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
68	70		Organization to deny Judaism's millennia-old historical,
69	71		religious, and cultural ties to Jerusalem.
70		-	King of Parker
71		-	Goldman
72		-	Price
73		-	Toth
74		-	Miller
75		-	______________________________
76		-	Speaker of the House
77		-	I certify that H.R. No. 16 was adopted by the House on April
78		-	9, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 116, Nays 0, 27 present, not
79		-	voting.
80		-	______________________________
81		-	Chief Clerk of the House