[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 32 (Thursday, March 13, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1800
               PEACE AND STABILITY SOUGHT IN MIDDLE EAST

  (Mr. BARCIA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARCIA. Mr. Speaker, the people of Israel have endured a history 
of military threat that would have crushed a lesser nation. They have 
fought for and earned freedom and the right to be recognized as a 
nation of resolve.
  The Palestinian people have also faced many challenges and difficult 
trials. The peace process has been as much a blessing to them as it has 
to the people of Israel. It was a major success for our Nation to have 
helped facilitate peace negotiations between the leaders of Israel and 
Palestine, and it is a delicate balance to maintain this most promising 
dialog. But recent reports that Yasser Arafat has invited diplomatic 
officials from several nations, including the United States, to 
criticize Israel for building in Jerusalem and redeployment from the 
West Bank can be a major impediment to the peace process.
  I am deeply troubled by the fact that Israel has not been invited to 
participate in this meeting. I am even more troubled that the United 
States has apparently agreed to attend what would appear to be a one-
sided meeting. Just as we cannot hear the sound of one hand clapping, 
we cannot expect to resolve conflicts by hearing only one side of the 
story.
  Over the years our Nation, under several Presidents, has invested too 
much to blemish the wonderful image that we all have of Yasser Arafat 
and Yitzhak Rabin shaking hands in front of President Clinton at the 
White House, signifying that an era of mutual respect was replacing one 
of hostility.
  I implore President Clinton and Secretary Albright to reconsider our 
participation in the meeting in Gaza. Please do not allow the news of 
the moment to overwhelm the work of a generation of leaders. Do not 
attend this meeting unless both parties to the negotiations agree that 
it will contribute to stability and our ultimate goal of peace in the 
Middle East.

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