{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://mcmorris.house.gov/mcmorris-rodgers-let-wish-friends-happy-hanukkah/", "McMorris Rodgers: \u201cLet me wish all my friends a most Happy Hanukkah!\u201d", "2017-12-12", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "WA", "Cathy McMorris Rodgers", "M001159", "mcmorris.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 12, 2017)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Eastern Washington Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) today released the following statement at the start of Hanukkah:\n\u201cLet me wish all my friends a\u00a0most Happy\u00a0Hanukkah!\n\u201cThe Festival of Lights comes each year as winter\u2019s dark days are closing in on us. Now is the time to gather family close, feast on latkes, play dreidel, and light the candles.\n\u201cHistory teaches us that in 200 B.C.E. the Maccabees rebelled when King Antiochus banned Jewish worship in Jerusalem, the capital city where the\u00a0holy\u00a0Temple was built. This year, we can celebrate a little extra, to be living in a country that is unafraid to say out loud what two thousand years of history\u00a0has\u00a0been unable to erase\u2013 that Jerusalem was and remains Israel\u2019s capital!\n\u201cWe\u2019re blessed to live in a country where our religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed; where we see menorahs alongside Christmas trees. That liberty, which so many\u00a0sacrifice\u00a0to preserve, is something we must never take for granted.\n\u201cThe miracle of Hanukkah came when the lamps in the Temple shone for eight days \u2013 but that wasn\u2019t possible until the people had the courage and determination to stand up for their freedom. So today, when you light the Hanukkah candles, may you bask in the warm glow of celebration with your family, and also remember the courage of the Maccabees for the example they set for generations to come.\n\u201cHappy Hanukkah from my family to yours.\u201d  \n\u00a0\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://mcmorris.house.gov/mcmorris-rodgers-let-wish-friends-happy-hanukkah/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8869459852576256, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}