Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama addresses the conference. For more than half a century, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has worked to help make Israel more secure by ensuring that American support remains strong. From a small pro-Israel public affairs boutique in the 1950s, AIPAC has grown into a 100,000-member national grassroots movement described by The New York Times as “the most important organization affecting America ‘s relationship with Israel. This AIPAC Policy Conference was fromJune 2 through June 4, 2008, at the Washington Convention Center. Headlining the conference was all three remaining Presidential candidates, all four leaders of Congress — Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), as well asSecretary of State Condoleezza Riceand Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
