[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 197 (Tuesday, December 12, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H14357-H14358]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SALUTES TO KWEISI MFUME AND SHIMON PERES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Fox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOX of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I want to join my colleagues in 
making a salute to Congressman Kweisi Mfume, a man of great compassion, 
a great colleague, a champion for civil rights, a man of passion, 
integrity and resolve who is accepting the new position of head of the 
NAACP here in the United States. As its new leader, he will take the 
NAACP to new heights of accomplishment because of his strength of 
character, his compassion for others, and his dedication to principle. 
We all wish him well in his new position.
  I would also like to make a salute to Shimon Peres who gave a very 
stirring speech today before a joint session of Congress. I had the 
opportunity to meet with now the prime minister, then the foreign 
minister of Israel this summer in a special congressional delegation 
visit, only to see his leadership, his vision, his perseverance, his 
love of Israel and his love of America.
  As Prime Minister Shimon Peres said today, he was speaking of his 
fallen comrade Yitzhak Rabin, he said they ``were always firm believers 
in the greatness of America, in the ethnic generosity inherent in our 
history and our people. For us, the United States of America is a 
commitment to values before an expression of might.''
  He continued by stating that Israel is a small land, 47 years old, 
but 4000 years deep in history. Before coming here to the United 
States, Prime Minister Peres visited King Hussein. They discussed the 
possibilities of transforming the Jordan River Valley which is, in 
fact, an elongated, extended desert into a Tennessee Valley. He then 
met with President Mubarak of Egypt in a highly congenial atmosphere. 
They agreed to put aside bitter memories and to postpone certain 
disputed issues for a future date.
  He finally met with Chairman Arafat of the PLO and his expression of 
condolence had the ring of a sincere desire for peace.
  What is next for Israel? Peace with Syria and Lebanon, the two 
remaining 

[[Page H14358]]
adversaries on Israel's borders. Peace with these two countries may 
well prove to be the greatest contribution to the construction of a new 
Middle East peace.
  In Shimon Peres' own words, he said the following:

       Nothing would capture the imagination of young people 
     everywhere than a gathering of, say, 20 Middle East leaders, 
     all of us standing together with you, our American friends 
     and others and declaring the end of the war, the end of the 
     conflict, thereby carrying the message to our forefathers and 
     to our grandchildren that we are again, all of us, the sons 
     and daughters of Abraham, living in a tent of peace. We shall 
     tell them together, as partners, we are going to build a new 
     Middle East, a modern economy, that we are going to raise the 
     standard of living, not the standard of violence, that we are 
     going to introduce light and hope to our peoples and their 
     destinies.

  Remember the peace rally at Tel Aviv just weeks ago, where we had 
Yitzhak Rabin die. The singer, not the song was killed. Though Prime 
Minister Yitzhak Rabin has died, the dream lives on. For those who 
believe in a lasting peace for the Middle East and peace across this 
world, the people of Israel, the people of the United States and the 
people who believe in Shimon Peres, that he, in fact, is the one who 
can carry forward in Israel and to work with world leaders like our 
President and this Congress, we say God bless him on this mission.

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