The Jewish Press prints an edited version of the address delivered by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) in Jerusalem on July 19 before a Knesset group:
Since my earliest memories growing up on a farm in Kansas in the heartland of America, I have read and studied and been taught about the people of Israel.
I was raised and steeped in the Bible while growing up. Ancient Israel was, and is, a living reality in my home. Its spirituality, wisdom, poetry, its majesty inspired and encouraged me all my life. You have helped form my soul and I thank you for it.
The bedrock of support for Israel in America today is comprised of Christians, like myself, who were raised on the Bible, and who see in the Jews of Israel today the inheritors of the tradition of ancient Israel. . . .
As a Christian, I thank you for my faith that is rooted in yours. And as a Christian, I deeply, deeply apologize for the pain and bloodshed and deafness to suffering that we have hoisted upon you and your ancestors. May this never, ever happen again.
Our past and our present and our futures are intertwined together. . . . Thank you and God bless you.
Sen. Brownback serves on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and serves as international Co-President of The Jerusalem Summit, with Knesset Member Dr. Yuri Shtern, U.S. Professor Daniel Pipes and Bar Ilan University President Prof. Moshe Kaveh.
The speech, which received significant media coverage in Israel, is worth reading in its entirety.