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Edward KocheEdward Koche
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Session:         Page of 617

we can arrange it.” I said, “Why can't you arrange it?” He said, “Well, we'll let you know shortly.”

Then he had told Obey that he was very upset that I had not alerted them in advance of having this as my desire, and Obey said to him, “It was Congressman Koch's intention to take the matter up with Assad, and since Assad is not going to see us, he's taking it up with you; and I think you ought to provide the means to do that.” Obey, by the way, as a result of the application of seniority was the chairman of the three of us, he being the oldest member in seniority on the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee.

So about an hour or two later Murphy sends word: yes, we can go to the synagogue tomorrow morning, but that it has to be done very early in the morning and that we have to leave the hotel at 5:15 in the morning, as though that were going to deter me. So I say, “Fine.” And then Joe Early (and for this I will always have the highest regard for him) said to me, “I'll go with you, Ed, if you'd like.” The reason I think he said it was that we all were under tension in Syria; it was not a comfortable place. And my thoughts that I had to get up and go to a Syrian Jewish synagogue at 5:15 in the morning -- I wasn't exactly comfortable. So I really appreciated that offer and I said, “Fine, Joe, that's very nice and I really appreciated it.” Obey said nothing, and he was there when the offer was made.





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