[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 26, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
CONGRATULATING PRIME MINISTER RABIN AND KING HUSSEIN ON THE SIGNING OF 
                        THE WASHINGTON AGREEMENT

                                 ______


                          HON. KAREN SHEPHERD

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 26, 1994

  Ms. SHEPHERD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan on their 
courageous moves toward peace. The agreement signed by these two men 
yesterday is a landmark in Israeli-Jordanian relations. In the months 
to come, as both sides undergo the difficult labor of negotiating the 
particulars of border crossings and water compacts, both sides will be 
able to lift their gaze from the thicket of details toward the central 
vision, as stated in the agreement: ``the achievement of a just, 
lasting and comprehensive peace between Israel and its neighbors and * 
* * the conclusion of a Treaty of Peace between both countries.''
  The dream of peace has been long in coming, but it is now within our 
grasp. The forces of intolerance and hatred are strong, but the forces 
of reason and compassion are stronger. In this struggle, the leadership 
of men like Mr. Rabin and King Hussein is crucial. During our own Civil 
War, President Lincoln called upon us to listen to the ``better angels 
of our nature'' as we strove to bind up the wounds of war. Prime 
Minister Rabin and King Hussein have truly exhibited this spirit of 
reconciliation today. Let us pray that as the Jordanian and Israeli 
people move from the bitter adversity of war to the gentler labors of 
peace, they too will listen to their better angels. The face of peace 
in the Middle East, and in the world as a whole, depend on the ability 
to do so.

                          ____________________