[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 28 (Tuesday, March 5, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H1703-H1704]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ALL NATIONS MUST JOIN IN QUEST FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Gejdenson] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, the tragic events in Israel in the last 
several days, the bombings by Hamas, are not simply actions taken by a 
handful of extremists. These extremists function because they have 
economic support that comes from countries and individuals around the 
globe.
  It is time that the efforts to attain peace be broadened beyond the 
United States, Israel, and the PLO. It is time for our Western Allies 
to join the American effort to isolate forces in the world that support 
terrorism.
  Our Western European Allies continue to do business as usual with the 
Government of Iran, that is probably the most central supporter of 
Hamas

[[Page H1704]]

and its terrorism. Our Western European Allies, like England, France, 
and Germany, continue to buy oil and provide technical assistance to 
that Government that provides the economic support and often the 
direction for these terrorist movements. Countries that Americans have 
bled for, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, also send a large portion of 
the funds that go to Hamas. Several months ago when Yasser Arafat was 
here in this Capitol, he complained it was easier for Hamas to get 
funding from some of these groups than it was for Yasser Arafat trying 
to lead the Palestinians toward a lasting peace with the Israelis.
  United States leadership has existed historically around the globe. 
That is why much of the world turns to us when there is a crisis. In 
Yugoslavia it was clear the world could not deal with that crisis 
unless America played a central role. The United States led the effort 
to end the apartheid in South Africa.
  It is now time for the Europeans to join the Americans and for 
Americans to take the lead in isolating the Government of Iran, that 
continues to be the single most destructive force of the peace process 
in the Middle East. The extremism that they breed, that they teach, 
that they finance, continues to threaten not only the peace process 
between Israel and the Palestinians, but governments that have been 
supportive of the peace process, like the Government of Egypt, led by 
Mr. Mubarak.
  American efforts will not succeed if we are isolated from our Western 
friends. Business as usual with the government of Iran continues to 
provide the billions of dollars of revenue that they can divert for 
terrorism. The blood that lays on the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv 
is simply not the fault of those who actually built the bomb. It is not 
simply the fault of those who brought the bomb in. It is the fault of 
those who provide the financing to buy the chemicals, to fly the 
materials, to energize these deadly destructions and this attempt to 
bring the peace process to an end.

  The world has paid a heavy price for these conflicts. Both the 
government of Israel and the government of Egypt have paid prices that 
most countries are shaken to their roots by, losing their leaders, 
seeing their citizens on a daily basis being the victims of terrorism.
  The Palestinian leadership of Yasser Arafat may not be perfect, may 
not have total control of the West Bank, but it is the only hope for 
peace at this point. They need to do a better job, but the rest of us 
need to provide them the support they need.
  Western Europe sits back with its continental coolness thinking that 
somehow it is above the fray. Let me tell the governments in England 
and France and Germany and others, if you do business with the 
terrorists in Iran, if you do business with the government of Iran, 
then the blood of those on the street of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem is on 
your hands. If the peace process fails, it is on your hands. You cannot 
simply go on and do business as usual with the single worst government 
in the Middle East.
  For Syria, if it wants to enter the peace process, it has to renounce 
its support of Hamas and terrorism as well. Before we take you into the 
family of nations that operates on the legal and respected basis, we 
need to know that the Syrian leadership is ready to reject its support 
for terrorism.
  War has a terrible price. The cost of peace has been dear as well. We 
dare not turn away from it. The alternative is so much worse and so 
much more devastating. But the Israelis and the Palestinians cannot do 
it alone. They alone cannot succeed in this effort if the richest of 
all of Western Europe go to Iran and then a portion of that is 
transferred to terrorists to take their toll on the peace process.
  The governments of Israel and Egypt, the leadership of the PLO have 
made their effort. It is now our turn to support that effort more 
seriously.

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