[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 39 (Wednesday, April 13, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
             QUESTIONING YASIR ARAFAT'S COMMITMENT TO PEACE

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the terrorist bombing in Hadera, Israel, 
which killed six innocent civilians at a bus station, coupled with the 
suicide bomb attack against innocent Israeli citizens last week in 
Afula, which killed seven people, showed that extremists are still 
trying to derail the peace process.
  While Yasir Arafat, the Chairman of the PLO, has sent a letter to 
President Clinton condemning the terrorist attacks in an oblique way, I 
think much more ought to be forthcoming from Mr. Arafat. There ought to 
be an unequivocal and unmistakable condemnation of the specific 
massacres, the way Israeli Prime Minister Rabin condemned the Hebron 
tragedy.
  Mr. Arafat's silence in this regard really questions whether he wants 
peace or whether he can deliver peace. The PLO covenants remain in 
place, still calling for the destruction of Israel, even though he 
promised to remove them.
  Mr. Speaker, extremists on both sides must not be allowed to defer or 
deter the peace process, but we must be reassured that Yasir Arafat is 
committed to peace. His remarks leave us questioning it.

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