Yesterday afternoon at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel, an exclusive reception was held in conjunction with the official Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony taking place today that will be presenting President Shimon Peres of Israel with the Congressional Gold Medal. The reception honored the Chairman, Lee Samson, and the co-chair, Robert Rechnitz, of the Shimon Peres Gold Medal Commemoration Committee and founder and chairman of both the Jerusalem Conference and Iron Dome Tribute by presenting them both with the US-Israel Advocacy Leadership Award. This award recognizes their role of stewardship and in sustaining the bilateral relationship between the United States and Israel.
The event included the participation of President Peres and Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who introduced the legislation to award Peres a Gold Medal to Congress. In attendance were also Rep. Trent Franks(R-AZ) who presented the Peres legislation to the House, Margot Beausey, representing Senator Bennett, who also introduced Peres legislation, Senator Tim Scott, Rep. Brad Sherman and Rep. Chakka Fattah(D-PA) as well as former CIA Director James Woolsey.