[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 99 (Tuesday, July 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
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]

 
       JORDAN AND ISRAEL: A HISTORIC MOMENT ON THE ROAD TO PEACE

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise today in celebration of the 
historic events which have occurred in Washington this week. King 
Hussein of Jordan and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel--the first 
pair of foreign leaders to address the U.S. Congress together--have 
ended 46 years of war between their two countries. What striking words 
in their ``Washington Declaration:''

       After generations of hostility, blood and tears and in the 
     wake of years of pain and wars, His Majesty King Hussein and 
     Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin are determined to bring an end 
     to bloodshed and sorrow.

  Americans deserve to celebrate these historic events and feel pride 
in the vigorous and productive efforts of President Clinton and 
Secretary of State Christopher in creating an environment conducive to 
the signing of this peace declaration. Americans should feel greatly 
encouraged that lasting peace in the Middle East may, at last, not just 
be a dream but could actually come to be before much longer.
  As I watched the ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House, I 
was struck by how much these two countries have in common. Perhaps now 
their relationship can flourish in the open in all areas in 
interaction--politics, economics, security, culture, and religion. The 
United States must continue the strong leadership role it has played 
for so many years, through so many different administrations, to ensure 
this happens--for there are many tasks which lie ahead. Secretary 
Christopher made the point earlier this week that ``This is a situation 
where the economics of it may be driving the politics of it * * *.'' 
Economic security is vital to Jordan and this is an area where the 
United States can provide encouragement. As Prime Minister Rabin said 
in his address to Congress, ``* * * the United States is helping the 
bold make a peace of the brave.'' Neither we nor the parties in the 
region can afford to falter in our journey on this road to peace.
  The events of the past days are only a beginning, not the end of this 
journey. As King Hussein so poignantly highlighted in the Rose Garden:

       This is the moment of a commitment and of a vision. Not all 
     of what is possible is within the document we have just 
     ratified, but a modest, determined beginning to bring to our 
     region and our peoples the security from fear, which I must 
     admit has prevailed over all the years of our lives, the 
     uncertainty of every day as to how it might end, the 
     suspicion, the bitterness, and the lack of human contact.

  We have seen in the past months--and it was further reinforced in 
these past few days--what men of vision and courage can do. King 
Hussein and Prime Minister Rabin will take their rightful place in 
history as peacemakers alongside the likes of Anwar Sadat and Menachem 
Begin. But, we should not forget the role the United States has played 
in creating an environment which promotes and permits the peace process 
to go forward. President Clinton and Secretary Christopher have earned 
the thanks of all people of peace--in Israel, in Jordan, and here in 
the United States--for their untiring efforts in bringing about the 
event of this week. Americans can be proud of the role they have played 
in awakening the prospects of peace. Much hard work lies ahead for all 
of the parties involved. We must persist, however, and not lose faith 
in the rightness of the cause in which we all labor. Failure to do so 
would doom the children of the Middle East to more of the ``blood and 
tears'' and ``pain and wars'' which these two courageous leaders are 
working to stop.

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