[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 12 (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E177-E178]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COMMENDING PALESTINIAN PEOPLE FOR HOLDING FREE AND FAIR PRESIDENTIAL 
                                ELECTION

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2005

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my colleagues in 
offering my congratulations to the Palestinian people on the recent 
election of Mahmoud Abbas as the second president of the Palestinian 
Authority.
  After 4 long years of terror and bloodshed, the hope for peace that 
has spread through Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the last 
two-and-a-half months has been welcomed by Israelis and Palestinians. 
Not since the heady days following the signing of the Oslo Accords in 
September 1993, has there been this much optimism for better relations 
between Israel and the Palestinians.
  I have been encouraged by the deepening contacts between Israelis and 
Palestinians following the death of Yasser Arafat and I am hopeful that 
next week's summit in Egypt between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and 
President Abbas will lay the groundwork for cooperative planning as 
Israel prepares to pull out of Gaza and parts of the West Bank later 
this year. Planning and coordination between Israeli and Palestinian 
security forces would improve the chance for a peaceful transition to 
Palestinian control in Gaza.
  I also hope that the election of President Abbas will finally mark a 
clear rejection of terrorism by the leadership of the Palestinian 
Authority. For too long, Yasser Arafat would say one thing to Israelis 
and Americans and another to his own people about the centrality of 
renouncing violence. President Abbas appears to understand that 
terrorism has brought only suffering to his people and that the only 
path to statehood for the Palestinian people is the path of 
negotiation.
  Although President Abbas won the presidency by a healthy margin in 
last month's election, he has no real base of political support with 
the PA, nor does he enjoy great popular support among the Palestinian 
electorate. Thus, he will need to build support by demonstrating to the 
Palestinians that he can negotiate effectively with Israel and by 
securing U.S. political and economic assistance.
  I know that the Israeli government understands the tenuousness of 
President Abbas's situation and has both sought to build confidence in 
him by easing up on security clampdowns in the territories and by 
showing restraint in not responding to a series of inflammatory 
statements by Abbas during the recent campaign.
  President Bush's request for $350 million in assistance to the 
Palestinians is an important signal that the United States also sees 
President Abbas as a serious partner in the search for peace between 
Israel and Palestinians. I share the President's vision of Israel and 
Palestine living side-by-side in peace and I am

[[Page E178]]

glad to see that he has backed up that vision with a substantial 
request for U.S. assistance.

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