[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 25 (Tuesday, February 11, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H343-H345]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  COMMENDING ISRAEL ON THEIR ELECTIONS

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (H. Res. 61) commending the people of Israel for 
conducting free and fair elections, reaffirming the friendship between 
the Governments and peoples of the United States and Israel, and for 
other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H. Res. 61

       Whereas the United States and Israel are close allies whose 
     people share a deep and abiding friendship based on a shared 
     commitment to democratic values;
       Whereas since its establishment in 1948, Israel has 
     fulfilled the dreams of its founders who envisioned a 
     vigorous, open, and stable democracy;
       Whereas an essential feature of Israeli democracy is its 
     system of competitive, free, and open elections;
       Whereas on January 28, 2003, the people of Israel elected 
     Israel's 16th Knesset, or Parliament, which in turn will 
     choose the Prime Minister of Israel; and
       Whereas the election on January 28, 2003, is the most 
     recent example of the commitment of Israel to the democratic 
     ideals of freedom and pluralism, ideals that Israel shares 
     with the United States
       Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
       (1) commends the people of Israel for reaffirming their 
     dedication to democratic ideals as expressed in the election 
     on January 28, 2003;
       (2) expresses both its respect for the freely expressed 
     will of the people of Israel, and its intention to engage in 
     constructive relations with the new Government of Israel, and 
     urges the international community to do so as well;
       (3) reaffirms the close bonds of friendship that have bound 
     the people of the United States and the people of Israel 
     together through turbulent times for more than half a 
     century;
       (4) urges the Palestinian leadership to abide by its 
     commitments made to the United States and to Israel and urges 
     the Palestinian people to act on President Bush's call of 
     June 24, 2002, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure, end 
     incitement to violence in official media, elect new leaders 
     not compromised by terror, and embrace democracy; and
       (5) restates the commitment of the United States to a 
     secure peace for Israel.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I would like to thank my colleague, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 
Cantor), for introducing this important resolution commending the 
people of Israel for conducting free and fair elections and reaffirming 
the close friendship between our two nations.
  Virtually since its creation in 1948, the state of Israel has been 
the only democratic ally of the United States in the region. Today, it 
is the only country in the Middle East with truly free elections, a 
vibrant free press, an active civil society and other elements which 
constitute a free society, making it indeed the only country in the 
Middle East classified as free by Freedom House in its report on 
democracy and human rights in the region.
  Its declaration of independence, its system based on separation of 
powers, particularly its emphasis on an independent judiciary, its 
guarantee of equal access for women and minorities, and its guarantee 
of freedom of religion to the entire population are but some of the 
parallels that we share, which further strengthen the bonds between our 
countries. However, our nations share more than just democratic 
principles.
  Regrettably, we have both been victimized by terrorism, the common 
enemy of the civilized world. The continuing terrorist attacks against 
Israel clearly follow the pattern of attacking democratic countries 
which support and implement the rule of law, mistaking the openness and 
tolerance of such societies as a sign of weakness. Israel is targeted 
in part because it is our friend and in part because it is an oasis of 
liberal, democratic values in a vast expanse of authoritarian regimes, 
fanaticism and bigotry.
  As a liberal democracy under repeated attack by murderers who target 
innocent men, women and children, Israel deserves our steadfast 
support. This support is essential to Israel's continued survival as a 
free and democratic nation, for only the United States has the power 
and political will to provide meaningful assistance to the only 
parliamentary democracy in the region.
  While we may have shared interests with Arab states in the Middle 
East, it is with Israel that we share core values. As it was in 
Afghanistan, U.S. foreign policy should be about more than geostrategic 
concerns. It should also reflect who we are as a nation and as a 
people.
  There is an expression in Spanish which says, loosely translated, 
``Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are.'' Let 
then the U.S. be judged by its friendship and by its partnership with 
Israel, the region's truly free, democratic society.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support the gentleman from 
Virginia's resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. 
First I would like to pay tribute to my good friend, the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Cantor), for introducing this legislation. I rise in 
strong support of this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, friendship with Israel and support for its security are 
unshakable elements of U.S. foreign policy. The primary reason for 
these close relationships is not just our strategic interests, but our 
shared values. Democracy and freedom form the core values of both the 
United States and of Israel.
  Mr. Speaker, that is why the occasion of Israelis going to the polls 
as

[[Page H344]]

they did just recently is the appropriate time to mark and to reaffirm 
this very special relationship. Israel is one of the world's most 
vibrant democracies.
  Some may wonder why we choose to honor this small country for holding 
an election. After all, Israel has held 17 elections in its 55-year 
history, five in the past decade alone. Yet another Israeli trip to the 
polls seems hardly remarkable. But, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what 
earns Israeli democracy its special place in our friendship and respect 
and its special status among the world's democracies. We take its 
democratic nature for granted. Yet Israeli democracy endures under 
extraordinary circumstances, of difficulties, tragedies, and suicide 
bombings found nowhere else on the face of this planet.
  The object of hatred from most of the regimes in its region, not one 
of which is a democracy, Israel would have every excuse in the world to 
lapse into the lamentable political mores of its region. But it refuses 
to do so. Instead, it brings democratic light to a region dominated by 
dictators.
  Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the people of Israel who have again shown 
their unswerving devotion to democracy with little sense that they are 
doing something extraordinary.
  Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate Prime Minister 
Sharon on his impressive plurality and wish him good luck in forming a 
new government. In passing this resolution, we assure the new Israeli 
Government that it can look forward to the closest possible 
relationship with the American people and with the Congress of the 
United States.
  I urge all my colleagues to support this resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Cantor), the author of this 
resolution, who is our new chief deputy whip and a person with whom I 
had the pleasure of going to Israel with last year.
  I look forward to my next visit to Israel just this Friday. I wish 
that he would be going with us.
  Mr. CANTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H. Res. 61, and I thank 
the gentlewoman from Florida and the gentleman from California for 
their work in bringing this resolution to the floor.
  On January 28, citizens in Israel exercised their right to vote in a 
free, transparent and democratic election. In Israel, like the United 
States, the right of citizens to vote is not denied or abridged on 
account of race, color, creed, sex or religion. Unfortunately, 
commitment to democracy and equal rights is a rarity in the Middle 
East. Israel's neighbors, like Syria, Iran, Iraq and others, do not 
share our respect for freedom. Behaviors that we consider basic rights, 
like free speech, fair trials, freedom of the press and freedom of 
religion are nonexistent. The concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit 
of happiness are often demonized in some countries as sinful products 
of the Great Satan culture of the West.
  That is, Mr. Speaker, why I stand here today and congratulate our 
only democratic ally in the Middle East, Israel, a country that stands 
with the United States on the key principles of human rights, freedom, 
peace and democracy, a country like no other in its region.
  Mr. Speaker, like the United States, Israel is currently fighting a 
war on terrorism against people dedicated to hate and destruction, 
people dedicated to ending freedom and democracy, and dedicated to 
suppressing the basic rights of life and liberty.

                              {time}  1530

  It is incomprehensible, but these armies of evil believe that they 
can destroy, maim, and kill innocent people in the name of God. For the 
past 22\1/2\ years, Israel has faced an unrelenting campaign of 
violence and terror against her citizens, a war that began just months 
after the region stood at the doorstep of peace waiting to enter and 
then the door was abruptly shut. Throughout all of this unrest, it is 
amazing that on January 28 just a few weeks ago, the Israeli people 
engaged in the most basic and important feature of democracy. They held 
free, open, and competitive elections, an act in stark contrast to 
their dictatorial enemies.
  Mr. Speaker, we in the United States consider Israel a real friend, a 
true ally. We must maintain our commitment to Israel's security. We 
must stand steadfast with President Bush and hold the Palestinian 
Authority to the strict guidelines laid out during the President's June 
24 Rose Garden speech. We know from past experience that imposing an 
artificial deadline will not result in peace in the Middle East. Peace 
will only come with security, not in spite of it. Israel has always 
made a sincere commitment to peace in the region. Many times her 
commitment to peace has come at the expense of innocent life. We need 
to make sure we stand with and support our only democratic ally in the 
region.
  I join my colleagues today in congratulating Israel on free and 
democratic elections, and I welcome a continued dialogue on how to best 
stop the violence and bring about peace and stability in this vitally 
important region.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Bell), one of our new colleagues who has 
already demonstrated qualities of great leadership in this body.
  Mr. BELL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to join me 
in commending the Nation of Israel and to support passage of this very 
important resolution. A great philosopher once wrote that ``freedom 
cannot be bought for nothing. If you hold her precious, you must hold 
all else of little worth.''
  Those words were written thousands of years ago, but I cannot think 
of any contemporary statement that provides such a clear window into 
the times in which we now live, into the struggle in which we are now 
locked.
  As we have once again learned here in America this past year, the 
struggle for freedom is a constant one. It is a battle never completely 
won but one that must be perpetually fought. The battle for freedom is 
one that exacts an enormous price, and few people on this Earth have 
paid as heavy a price for their freedom as the people of Israel.
  And as we see on our evening news on too many nights, the sons and 
daughters of Israel continue to pay that price just as they have for 
thousands of years. I think it is only fitting that in the wake of 
their 17th consecutive election as a free nation that the United States 
Congress would honor the Nation of Israel. We should honor them for 
their unwaivering commitment to find and hold freedom, and we should 
honor them for the sacrifice millions of Jewish people have made in 
pursuit of their dream, in pursuit of their right to hold free 
elections as a free people.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend from Texas for his 
eloquent and powerful statement, and I urge all of my colleagues to 
support this resolution.
  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my grave concerns with the 
content of the resolution congratulating Israel on their recent 
elections.
  What could--and should--have been a nice innocuous resolution 
congratulating a key ally for running their recent election more fairly 
than we can, was instead hijacked by anti-Palestinian groups in 
Congress and turned into another diatribe against the Palestinians.
  Rather than simply congratulating Israel, the resolution includes 
language accusing Palestinian leaders of supporting terrorism in Israel 
and the occupied territories. It further suggest that leaders of the 
Palestinian Authority, chosen by the Palestinian people, should be 
thrown out of office. If our role as a nation is to play peace broker 
in the Middle East, we must stop choosing sides in this ongoing 
conflict in which neither side is fully in the right.
  I do commend Israel for conducting a free and fair election and I 
wish I could say the same for our most recent Presidential election. 
But, the commendation should have ended there.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I reluctantly must oppose this resolution.
  Though I am sure this resolution commending Israel for holding free 
elections was introduced with the best intentions, this legislation 
unfortunately goes further than a simple commendation. The legislation 
as written will only once again inject the United States into the 
decades-old and intractable conflict in the Middle East. By commending 
Israel while at the same time demanding that the Palestinians take 
specific actions, this legislation places the United States squarely in 
the middle of a conflict that has absolutely nothing to do with 
American interests. Also, the resolution states that the United States 
is committed

[[Page H345]]

to secure peace for Israel. We cannot afford nor are we 
constitutionally permitted to play referee in the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict, and securing peace for any country but the United States is 
not the role of this body.
  We must resist the temptation to meddle in the affairs of far-away 
nations no matter how good our intentions may be. If we are to keep our 
Constitutional republic we must uphold the wise counsel of those who 
crafted our founding set of laws.
  Thomas Jefferson summed up the foreign policy position we must uphold 
in his 1801 inaugural address: ``People, commerce, and honest 
friendship with all nations--entangling alliances with none.'' How many 
champion Jefferson and the Constitution, but conveniently ignore both 
when it comes to American foreign policy? Washington similarly urged 
that the U.S. must ``Act for ourselves and not for others,'' by forming 
an ``American character wholly free of foreign attachments.'' Do so 
many on Capitol Hill now believe Washington was wrong?
  Mr. Speaker, how many more times must we place ourselves and our 
country at risk by taking one side or other in battles, wars, and 
conflicts that have nothing to do with the United States, and where 
anger toward the United States will inevitably result? I urge my 
colleagues to uphold the Constitution and vote against this 
unfortunately-worded resolution.
  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, today we are debating a resolution 
congratulating Israel for conducting free and fair elections. I, too, 
rise to offer my congratulations to the people of Israel for their 
recent free and open elections.
  That being said, I have concerns with the wording of the resolution. 
I find it curious that a resolution of congratulations to the Israeli 
people also contains condemnations of the actions--or inactions--of the 
Palestinian people.
  Mr. Speaker, the resolution refers to President Bush's statement of 
June 24, 2002. But what is the vision of this Administration? Secretary 
Colin Powell said it is to build, ``a region where Israelis and Arabs 
can live together in peace, security, and dignity.'' The resolution 
before us mentions peace and security for Israel, but it says nothing 
of peace and security for the Palestinian people in the Occupied 
Territories. Where is the balance?
  Unfortunately, we again have a resolution before the House that is 
perceived to be one-sided in nature, and which does not present the 
United States as an honest broker to both sides in this conflict.
  I will support this resolution, but I wish to make it know that the 
Congress of the United States should strive to support the goal of 
peace in the region for all peoples. The United States must act as an 
even-handed honest broker to all parties in the Palestinian-Israeli 
conflict if there is ever to be peace in the region.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Otter). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 61.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

                          ____________________