Mrs. Laura Bush, the First Lady of the United States, survivors and liberators, distinguished members of Congress, distinguished members of Israeli Knesset, chaired by Michael Eitan, fellow Ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen, friends.

Today marks the darkest day of the Jewish calendar, commemorating the darkest era of humankind. The extermination of the Jews in Europe, which was brutal and cruel, is a unique, singular and horrific event in the annals of mankind. Six million Jews, one-third of the Jewish people, were killed. Yet, we are not seeking revenge-no vengeance-we only look for justice. And I know that there is no amount of justice that can comfort the individual victims, survivors, or their families. There is no justice, human justice, that can be appropriate, or fitting, for the murderers-the Nazis and their collaborators. Yet, justice was made in a larger sense, in a historic sense. The justice was served by the creation of the State of Israel on the ashes of the crematoria in Europe.

The rebirth of the State of Israel in their historic homeland, in Zion, in Israel, is true justice and the ultimate answer to the Holocaust. In Israel, the Jewish people, after 2,000 years, have the right and the capabilities, for the first time, to defend itself, by itself. And this is our solemn duty, and sacred duty, to preserve and strengthen Israel. This is the legacy, this is the answer, and this is what we do for the victims and their survivors.