[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 29, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E777-E778]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      LET LEBANON BE LEBANON: GIVE BACK ITS TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. NICK J. RAHALL II

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 29, 1997

  Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, as I did in the 104th Congress, I rise again 
today to introduce a House concurrent resolution expressing the sense 
of the Congress regarding the territorial integrity, unity, 
sovereignty, and full independence of Lebanon.
  You may ask what that means, and you may ask why it is prudent or 
necessary to introduce such a resolution once again. I will tell you.
  As a Lebanese-American Member of Congress, I am aware of recent 
events in the Middle East which may have slowed the peace process there 
to a point where it can no longer be revived. I have seen resolutions 
introduced in the House calling upon Syria to get its armed forces out 
of Lebanon--as though Syria is the only occupying force that needs to 
get itself out of Lebanon; as though Syria is to blame for every single 
averse thing that has happened to Lebanon in recent years.
  Mr. Speaker, Syria is no angel--but Syria isn't the only problem 
Lebanon has, or that the Middle East has, for that matter. We all know 
that to be true.
  I visited Lebanon recently, as well as a number of other nation-
states in the gulf and Middle East region, and I was amazed at the 
consistency of their belief that we may have seen the end of the Middle 
East peace talks. They are gravely disappointed over the Israeli Prime 
Minister's provocative act to start building settlements in Har Homa, 
and the fact that the United States vetoed two United Nations Security 
Council resolutions condemning that provocative act.
  The leaders I met with nearly unanimously stated that the United 
States has lost sight of its role as an honest broker in the Middle 
East peace talks, have lost sight of the fact that the Arab States are 
friends of the United States. They said their patience was being worn 
very thin.
  The biggest problem, as always, appears to be that everyone views 
Lebanon as some kind of bargaining chip, or pawn, to be used by Israel 
and Syria, and then anyone else who seem to have an ax to grind in the 
region. It doesn't necessarily mean the ax to grind has anything to do 
with Lebanon directly, it is just that Lebanon sits directly in the 
path of Israel and Syria and so axes are ground at Lebanon's expense.
  The last major episode of ax-grinding in Lebanon was called Operation 
Grapes of Wrath. And the axes were turned into shells and rockets and 
so-called precision weaponry that allegedly could penetrate buildings 
in the middle of the city of Beirut and search out a floor with a 
window that supposedly was concealing Hizbollah, without harming the 
innocent mothers and children also living in that building. But the 
precision weapons turned out not to be so precise, and more than 100 
Lebanese civilians were killed, 400,000 were displaced and many left 
homeless, injured, and suffering.
  This resolution is for Lebanon and about Lebanon. It isn't about 
Israel or Syria--except that all non-Lebanese forces are asked to get 
out of Lebanon. It is an idea whose time has come.
  Another idea whose time has come is that the United States 
Government--the Congress--the President of the United States--need to 
reformulate their policy toward Lebanon and they need to reaffirm their 
support for a country that has long been friendly toward the United 
States.
  Not only do they need to reformulate a policy, the policy needs to be 
implemented.
  Lebanon has a Government, and it has an army, and it is rebuilding 
and it is getting stronger and more secure every day. It is time that 
the United States Government began looking at and considering Lebanon 
as the master of its own house--the captain of its own ship--and 
understand that the United States Government should negotiate directly 
with Lebanon's Government on issues concerning Lebanon and its future.
  There is no need for the President, the Congress, or anyone else to 
look toward Syria to

[[Page E778]]

the north, or toward Israel in the south--as neither has a right to 
decide Lebanon's future.
  As a matter of fact, our Government needs to look backwards 18 years 
ago--and recall the United Nations Security Council's Resolution 425 
which calls for the withdrawal forthwith of Israeli forces from Lebanon 
and for which the United States representative to the U.N. voted.
  The Taif agreement regarding Syria did not go far enough because it 
did not call for withdrawal. It did call for a redeployment of Syrian 
forces to the entrance of the Bekaa Valley and the disarmament of all 
militia in Lebanon, both of which Syria has ignored.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, I introduce this concurrent resolution, again. 
The resolution has changed somewhat from the one introduced in the last 
Congress. It commends the President for hosting the ``Friends of 
Lebanon'' conference this past December, and urges him to take further 
steps to assist Lebanon's reconstruction.
  By this resolution I and my colleagues who cosponsor with me call for 
the withdrawal of all non-Lebanese forces from Lebanon so that she will 
no longer serve as the preferred battleground for her neighbors.
  It tells the President that he need not wait upon the reconvening of 
the official Middle East peace talks, or the finalization of a 
comprehensive peace accord with all nation states in the region--to 
help Lebanon get non-Lebanese forces out of Lebanon.
  The resolution calls upon the President to negotiate directly with 
officials of the Government of Lebanon on issues pertaining to Lebanon. 
To negotiate directly means just that--without any middlemen.
  In closing Mr. Speaker, I submit this resolution to the House, 
calling also upon Lebanon to assert more independence to assure the 
international community that Lebanon has the political will and the 
military capability to guarantee security along her borders, for 
herself and her neighbors, and to disarm all militia upon the 
withdrawal of all non-Lebanese forces from Lebanon.
  This new Lebanon resolution also commends the Lebanese Government for 
its determination to hold municipal elections for the first time since 
1963, and finally, Mr. Speaker, the resolution calls upon Lebanon, with 
democracy being a part of its national character, to respect freedom of 
the press, human rights, judicial due process, political freedom, the 
right of association and freedom of assembly.
  It is my genuine hope that the President will use the guidelines set 
forth in this resolution to formulate a new United States policy toward 
Lebanon, and let Lebanon be Lebanon.

                          ____________________