[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 139 (Friday, October 3, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S12471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 241--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING THE 
                         PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

  Mr. GRAHAM of South Carolina submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 241

       Whereas the Palestinian people have a right to live in 
     peace with the Israeli people in a free and independent 
     Palestinian state;
       Whereas the leadership of both these peoples must be 
     committed to moving the peace process forward;
       Whereas violence undermines the establishment of a free and 
     independent Palestinian state;
       Whereas violence in Israel and the occupied territories 
     effects the stability of the entire region;
       Whereas Yasser Arafat has taken insufficient action as 
     Chairman of the Palestinian Authority to reduce violence and 
     terrorist acts;
       Whereas Chairman Arafat has established ties to those 
     responsible for the violence;
       Whereas high level officials in Chairman Arafat's 
     administration and Chairman Arafat himself have illegally 
     imported weapons and, according to the Department of State, 
     sponsored a ship bringing more than 50 tons of weapons, 
     including rockets, explosives, and assault rifles, to the 
     Palestinian Authority;
       Whereas Chairman Arafat's administration is demonstrably 
     corrupt, as proven by the findings of the International 
     Monetary Fund with respect to the actions of Chairman Arafat 
     to redirect $900,000,000 in government revenue to private 
     bank accounts between 1995 and 2000;
       Whereas the Palestinian Authority supports Hamas, an 
     organization that is committed to the destruction of the 
     state of Israel, and which threatens in its Covenant that 
     ``Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam 
     will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before 
     it'';
       Whereas the Palestinian Authority has supported Hamas and 
     Islamic Jihad;
       Whereas Chairman Arafat consistently refuses to accept a 
     two-state solution to the violence between Israelis and 
     Palestinians;
       Whereas the Palestinian people need a strong leader capable 
     of controlling militant groups; and
       Whereas the Palestinian people need a strong leader 
     committed to negotiating a peace for them and their 
     neighbors: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) Chairman Yasser Arafat is not an agent for peace, and 
     the United States should not continue dialogue with Chairman 
     Arafat regarding the establishment of a peace between 
     Israelis and Palestinians; and
       (2) the United States should consider reducing future 
     financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority if the 
     Palestinian Authority continues to fail to control groups 
     like Hamas and Islamic Jihad whose goal is to destroy both 
     Israel and the peace process.

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