[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 125 (Tuesday, October 10, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10146-S10147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, I am thoroughly upset about what is
happening in the Middle East--watching people cower in fear, and some
dying moments later as violence escalates. It is a terrible sight to
see on television. It is a terrible sight to see in pictures and in the
newspapers. It is terrible news to hear reports that after so much
effort and so much concern for peace there is this carnage.
I think everyone probably knows that I have had a longtime interest
in Israel. I have been there many times. But I also have an active
interest in a peace resolution. I got to know some of our friends in
the Palestinian community. I got to know Mr. Arafat and the people who
assisted him--and the Palestinian Authority.
Whether a child is Jewish or Moslem or whether he or she is an
Israeli citizen or whether he or she is someone out of the refugee
camps in Palestine and the surrounding areas, or from the nation of
Lebanon, I don't like to see any child taken from a family.
I want to make a point. I visited Gaza. I was at the airport just
weeks before it opened--maybe days. It was very close in time. I was
very enthusiastic about giving help to the Palestinians to get their
economy going and providing some hope and vision for them so their
lives could be improved and their freedoms expanded.
I think it is fair to say that Israel is taking enormous risks in
that promotion, particularly the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Barak,
who went further, I believe, than anybody else in Israel. We all know
that Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated because of his beliefs by
someone in the Israeli community of the same faith--Jewish. He died for
his interest in peace.
But I don't understand how there can be joy expressed in the
destruction of Joseph's tomb or to see books and artifacts destroyed
and burned, and people taking joy and gloating over the killing of an
Israeli. They are people who are beyond control. We condemn their acts
of violence against the Arabs in the area and within the state of
Israel. I condemn that violence. It is not acceptable wherever it
occurs.
However, I say to the Palestinian Authority, they have no right to
use weapons that were given to provide police and law enforcement
against the country that gave it to them in the first place. They have
no right to promote violence, no right to have television programs
coming over Palestinian television that talk about it being necessary
to kill people in Israel, to destroy the country.
That kind of action, that kind of encouragement, is antithetical to
the possibilities of peace or the possibilities of life. Anti-Semitic
articles, cartoons, and newspapers, whether it be in Syria or even with
our friends in Egypt or Lebanon, are unacceptable. Those are the kinds
of things that ultimately promote violent action from one people to
another.
I want our friends--Mr. Arafat, the people in the Palestinian
Authority--to understand they will get nowhere by promoting assaults on
Israel, whether they be on person or territory. It is not going to do
them any good in the final analysis. A state of conflict, of war, is
going to be painful to people on both sides. There will be no victors.
Help came from the United States to try to elevate the standard of
living in the Palestinian community because people such as I promoted
it. I was active on the issue. I wanted to show good faith and provide
funds for the Palestinians to get their airport open. I visited the
economic settlements they were erecting, development settlements to
give jobs to people, to give hope to people. I supported it
enthusiastically.
I think what is going on is unacceptable by any standard. The United
Nations resolution issued last week was so lopsided that it looked as
if they were trying to eliminate Israel from the family of nations. I
don't understand it--encouraging the criticism of Israel and
denigrating Israeli efforts to make peace, at some considerable risk
again, as we have seen. Those young men captured and taken someplace in
Lebanon or wherever, captured by a group that considers violence the
way to resolve things--Hezbollah is proud of the fact they kidnap
people. That is not the way peace is going to evolve or relationships
develop.
I hope sense will come to the area very soon because what we see
there is not, in my view, a limited conflict but, rather, a possibility
that we will be seeing a conflict that will be very hard to put out. I
hope we will soon hear better news from that area. I urge Mr. Arafat to
curb violence where he sees it among his people. It cannot be fostered.
It cannot be encouraged and at the same time gain the advantages that I
am sure he would like to see for his people; that is, a peaceful
existence and an improved quality of life.
I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I hereby submit to the Senate the budget
scorekeeping report prepared by the Congressional Budget Office under
section 308(b) and in aid of section 311 of
[[Page S10147]]
the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, as amended. This report meets the
requirements for Senate scorekeeping of section 5 of S. Con. Res. 32,
the first concurrent resolution on the budget for 1986.
This report shows the effects of congressional action on the 2000
budget through September 30, 2000. The estimates of budget authority,
outlays, and revenues are consistent with the technical and economic
assumptions of the 2001 concurrent resolution on the budget (H. Con.
Res. 290), which replaced the 2000 concurrent resolution on the budget
(H. Con. Res. 68).
The estimates show that current level spending is above the budget
resolution by $19.3 billion in budget authority and by $20.6 billion in
outlays. Current level is $28 million below the revenue floor in 2000.
Since my last report, dated September 5, 2000, the Congress has
cleared, and the President has signed, the Department of Defense
Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-259). This action changed the
2000 current level of budget authority and outlays.
This is my last report for fiscal year 2000.
I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the following
material.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Congress,
Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC, October 5, 2000.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on the Budget, U.S. Senate, Washington,
DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman: The enclosed tables show the effects of
Congressional action on the 2000 budget and are current
through September 30, 2000. This report is submitted under
section 308(b) and in aid of section 311 of the Congressional
Budget Act, as amended.
The estimates of budget authority, outlays, and revenues
are consistent with the technical and economic assumptions of
H. Con. Res. 290, the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for
Fiscal Year 2001, which replaced H. Con. Res. 68, the
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2000.
Since my last report, dated July 26, 2000, the Congress has
cleared, and the President has signed, the Department of
Defense Appropriations Act, 2001 (Public Law 106-259). This
action changed budget authority and outlays.
Sincerely,
Barry B. Anderson
(For Dan L. Crippen, Director).
Enclosures.
TABLE 1.--FISCAL YEAR 2000 SENATE CURRENT LEVEL REPORT, AS OF SEPTEMBER
30, 2000
[In billions of dollars]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current
Budget Current level over/
resolution level \1\ under
resolution
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On-budget:
Budget Authority................... 1,467.3 1,486.6 19.3
Outlays............................ 1,441.1 1,461.7 20.6
Revenues........................... 1,465.5 1,465.5 (\2\)
Debt Subject to Limit.............. 5,628.3 5,579.2 -49.1
Off-budget:
Social Security Outlays............ 326.5 326.5 0.0
Social Security Revenues........... 479.6 479.6 0.0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Current level is the estimated revenue and direct spending effects
of all legislation that the Congress has enacted or sent to the
President for his approval. In addition, full-year funding estimates
under current law are included for entitlement and mandatory programs
requiring annual appropriations even if the appropriations have not
been made. The current level of debt subject to limit reflects the
latest information from the U.S. Treasury.
\2\ Less than $50 million.
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
TABLE 2.--SUPPORTING DETAIL FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2000 SENATE CURRENT LEVEL REPORT FOR ON-BUDGET SPENDING AND
REVENUES, AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
[In millions of dollars]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Budget
authority Outlays Revenues
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enacted in previous sessions:
Revenues............................................................. n.a. n.a. 1,465,480
Permanents and other spending legislation............................ 876,140 836,751 n.a.
Appropriation legislation............................................ 869,318 889,756 n.a.
Offsetting receipts.................................................. -284,184 -284,184 n.a.
--------------------------------------
Total, enacted in previous sessions.............................. 1,461,274 1,442,323 1,465,480
Enacted this session:
Omnibus Parks Technical Corrections Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-176)....... 7 3 0
Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act (P.L. 106-181).... 2,805 0 0
Trade and Development Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-200)..................... 53 52 -8
Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-224).............. 5,500 5,500 0
Military Construction Appropriations Act, 2001 (P.L. 106-246)........ 15,173 13,799 0
Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2001 (P.L. 106-259)........ 1,779 0 0
--------------------------------------
Total, enacted this session...................................... 25,317 19,354 -8
Entitlements and mandatories: Adjustments to appropriated mandatories to -35 0 n.a.
reflect baseline estimates..............................................
Total Current Level...................................................... 1,486,556 1,461,677 1,465,472
Total Budget Resolution.................................................. 1,467,300 1,441,100 1,465,500
Current Level Over Budget Resolution................................. 19,256 20,577 n.a.
Current Level Under Budget Resolution................................ n.a. n.a. 28
Memorandum: Emergency designations for bills enacted this session........ 35,261 16,108 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Congressional Budget Office.
Notes: P.L.=Public Law; n.a.=not applicable.
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