[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 174 (Monday, November 6, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H11770-H11771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO YITZHAK RABIN AND ISRAEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Frank] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I have not in my 15 years as 
a Member of this House felt sadder on taking the well. The murder of 
Yitzhak Rabin is one of the most despicable, frightening acts we have 
witnessed, because it was not simply the murder of one of the genuinely 
great men of our time; a man who, having excelled in war, a war forced 
on him and forced on his countrymen, a war they never wanted but a war 
of self-defense, a war 

[[Page H 11771]]
which they had to fight from the moment of their birth for their very 
existence; a man who, having excelled at that war, excelled at peace; 
but of a man who, which is rare in politics, risked everything to make 
peace.
  We talk of those who stand up to their enemies, but that is easy to 
do. Standing up to your friends, to your brothers and sisters, to the 
people to whom you have been closest, that takes a real kind of moral 
courage. Yitzhak Rabin did it. It is not simply the murder of this 
great man. It is an assault on democracy. It is an assault on one of 
the great accomplishments that we have seen in this world, in this 
century. That was the creation of the democratic State of Israel out of 
the terrible horrors of the Holocaust.
  It is appropriate for us today, in expressing our deep sorrow at the 
murder of this great man, to remark on the extraordinary society which 
gave birth to him, not in the physical sense but in the political 
sense, because he is one of the man who brought Israel into existence, 
but his political career then thrived within Israel.
  It is a terrible tragedy that just as he appeared to be on the verge 
of success in bringing about a true peace, a thoughtful and sensible 
peace, he was murdered. Israel was created, through no fault of its 
own, in the midst of war. This small nation had to fight for its very 
existence from the moment of its existence. After five decades, nearly, 
of a war of self-defense, Israel society was taking great risks for 
peace.
  We in the United States can be very proud of the role that has been 
played by the United States, by the Clinton administration, by this 
Congress, by American society, in giving Israel the necessary support 
that it needed as a small nation in the midst of what was once a sea of 
hostility to go forward to making peace.
  Mr. Speaker, in addition to mourning the death, in addition to 
condemning the despicable act, and condemning also those who condoned 
this in advance, I think it is appropriate to pay tribute to Israeli 
society, and at this moment of greatest sorrow for Israeli society, to 
express my confidence, my pride as a Jew, as well as an American, in 
the relationship that our country has had with Israel, but also in the 
ability of Israeli society, in the midst of an effort to wipe it out 
before it came into existence, to foster its own security and at the 
same time democracy.
  Many have argued at times of stress that democracies have to give up 
on their basic rights. The Israeli experience is, of course, a 
repudiation of that, because the Israeli society has been one of the 
freest and most democratic in the world at the same time it has been 
under attack. Now that society, that great democracy, is going to be 
called on, as few societies have been called on. But that is not new 
for the Israelis. They have had to go through this before.
  I am confident that in the midst of this terrible tragedy and 
mourning, the strong democratic nation of Israel will rise to the task, 
and those who tried to murder peace by murdering this great man will 
fail. I believe that the democratic society of Israel will repudiate 
this effort, and I am proud to say that as a Member of the United 
States House of Representatives, I look forward to working with all of 
my colleagues in continuing to provide Israel with the kind of support 
and reassurance it needs to go forward on the path that Yitzhak Rabin 
had begun.

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