[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 22 (Thursday, February 26, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H637]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
                AFFIRMING ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. PENCE. Mr. Speaker, the right of every nation to self-defense is 
an inalienable right. As my colleague, the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. 
Berkley), just so eloquently described, today we will introduce, along 
with nearly 60 Republican and Democrat original cosponsors in this 
House, a resolution affirming Israel's right to self-defense.
  Just last month, my wife, Karen, and I traveled along the fence line 
in Israel, the security fence itself, constructed in the wake of over 
20,000 attacks over the last 3 years that have claimed over 1,000 
lives. Israel is engaged in the construction of a fence in an act of 
self-defense, and our resolution affirms this timeless principle.
  Mr. Speaker, I pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for all of the people 
of the region. But affirming, as this Congress should, the wrongness of 
the action at the Hague and the rightness of Israel's choice to defend 
itself and innocent civilians is the proper course of action.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Nevada and all of our 
original cosponsors and urge expeditious action on our resolution 
supporting Israel's right to self-defense.

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