[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9087-S9088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      SENATE RESOLUTION 121--RELATIVE TO THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

  Mr. Specter submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 121

       Whereas United States law requires the Palestinian 
     Authority to exert a maximum 100-percent effort to fight 
     terrorism in order to continue to receive United States 
     foreign assistance;
       Whereas the Palestinian Authority has failed to make that 
     100-percent maximum effort as evidenced by Chairman Yassir 
     Arafat's open embrace of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi 
     on August 20, 1997;
       Whereas a Palestinian terrorist bombed a Tel Aviv 
     restaurant on March 21, 1997, killing 3 Israelis and wounding 
     12 others;
       Whereas 2 Hamas suicide bombers attacked a crowded outdoor 
     market in Jerusalem on July 30, 1997, killing 13 Israelis and 
     wounding over 150 others;
       Whereas 3 Hamas suicide bombers detonated their bombs in a 
     popular pedestrian mall in Jerusalem on September 4, 1997, 
     killing 5 Israelis and wounding approximately 170 others;
       Whereas Secretary of State Madeleine Albright conceded in 
     testimony before the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign 
     Operations on May 22, 1997 that Chairman Arafat had not given 
     a red light to stop Palestinian terrorism;
       Whereas in fact the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) 
     and the Palestinian Authority are at war with Israel;
       Whereas the PLO has built up a police force of more than 
     30,000 men and armed it with sophisticated weapons; and
       Whereas continued United States assistance and assistance 
     from allies of the United States will only strengthen the 
     ability of the PLO to continue terrorism and ultimately wage 
     an all-out war: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the United States should discontinue all 
     financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, and the 
     United States should urge allies of the United States to do 
     the same, unless and until the Palestinian Authority 
     demonstrates a 100-percent maximum effort to curtail 
     terrorism.

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, in the 7 minutes intervening, I will 
utilize this time to submit a resolution which I had discussed 
extensively yesterday calling for the United States to cease any 
financial aid to the Palestinian Authority and for the United States to 
use its best efforts to persuade all of our allies to do the same 
thing.
  I believe that that course of action is necessary to change our 
policy in the Mideast, because there is no peace process. There is a 
great deal of talk about a peace process, but the reality, the brutal 
fact of life is that there is no peace process. But there is a war of 
terrorism, a one-sided war being waged by the Palestinians against 
Israel.
  The brutal fact of life, Mr. President, is that terrorism has 
replaced open warfare as a way of gaining military advantage. The wars 
which have been fought against Israel, the open warfare, has been 
unsuccessful, so this practice of terrorism is being pursued. The 
financial aid which has come from the United States and our allies has 
been used to build up the Palestinian Authority in many ways, including 
a 30,000-person police force, armed with highly sophisticated weapons.
  When Prime Minister Netanyahu made the accusation, after the March 21 
bombing of the Tel Aviv cafe, that Chairman Arafat had given a green 
light, I sought a response from the Secretary of State. In her 
testimony a few weeks ago before the Foreign Operations Subcommittee, 
Secretary of State Albright said there had not been a green light, but 
also there had not been a red light.
  Mr. President, United States law requires that the Palestinian 
Authority make the maximum effort to stop terrorism. The Palestinian 
Authority is not a guarantor, but they have an obligation to make a 
maximum effort to stop terrorism. And since the March 21 terrorist 
attack, we have seen the July 30 terrorist attack, we have seen the 
embrace by Chairman Arafat of the Hamas leader, the picture seen around 
the world, comparable to the shot heard around the world, where in no 
uncertain terms Chairman Arafat is saying that he condones what Hamas 
has done and even encourages Hamas to do more. Then, on September 4, we 
had the most recent terrorist attack.
  These three terrorist attacks in the course of the past 6 months have 
killed 21 Israelis and wounded 330 other Israelis. So where is the 
peace process? There is none. The emperor has no clothes. It is time we 
recognized that fact.
  We have had, in addition, a report from an Israeli cabinet officer, 
Deputy Education Minister Moshe Peled, that Chairman Arafat knew in 
advance of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing that it was going to 
occur. If that is in fact true, Chairman Arafat is an accessory before 
the fact, and that is a form of conspiracy and, under our statutes, 
subject to trial in a United States court.
  When I saw that charge I asked the Department of Justice to 
investigate. And we do have information that Mr. Peled was questioned 
by the FBI for some 2 hours but we do not know the results of that 
inquiry.
  I have discussed with the distinguished majority leader the issue 
about the necessity for bringing this matter to a head to provide some 
leadership on foreign policy where our Senate has the standing to do 
so.
  You just heard a lengthy distinguished speech by Senator Biden, the 
ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. The leadership has 
been taken by Senator Helms and others, and we have constitutional 
authority to act.
  Where the administration continues to supply funds to the Palestinian 
Authority, and those funds directly and indirectly go to build up the 
Palestinian Army, that is a practice which should be stopped.
  The administration had further talked about going to final settlement 
discussions between Israel and the Palestinians. Of course, that is a 
matter for the Israelis and the Palestinians to decide. But, I believe 
that it is an unwise policy for the United States to push that approach 
because the principles of the Camp David accord and the Oslo accord 
were to build up confidence, to have relationships which would build up 
and lead to final status negotiations when there was a basis for the 
Israelis and the Palestinians living side by side. Regrettably, that is 
not possible.

  We have repeated statements by Chairman Arafat and others of a 
belligerent nature spewing hatred. We have hatred being talked about in 
the schools. We have an atmosphere which hardly is conducive to final 
negotiation status. There had been talk after the Oslo accord of 
deferring the issue of a Palestinian State. The concern had been that 
there would be a Trojan horse, a secret Palestinian State inside of 
Israel.
  Well, that has not happened. It has not been secret. It has been 
open. You have a 30,000-person police force, military operation with 
sophisticated weapons. You have the chief of police who has been 
charged by the Israeli authorities with being involved in terrorist 
attacks and information from the United States.
  I spoke at some length about this yesterday, Mr. President. My 
comments are necessarily abbreviated today because there has only been 
a period of 7 minutes from the time I started until the 5 o'clock vote 
which is due to start soon.
  Today, I talked to our distinguished chairman of the Foreign 
Relations Committee about hearings on this subject, as I had discussed 
with Senator Lott. I believe that when Secretary of State Albright 
returns from the Mideast, it would be a good opportunity to hear from 
her about administration policy and to hear from the Attorney General 
and the FBI Director about what is happening with the investigation as 
to Chairman Arafat's possible complicity in the World Trade Center 
bombing.

[[Page S9088]]

  So I file the resolution, Mr. President. We are in the process of 
getting cosponsors.

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