[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 14 (Thursday, February 10, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E221-E222]
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. ROY BLUNT

                              of missouri

                  in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 2, 2005

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. Speaker, free democratic elections in the Middle East 
are vital to our security and to the security of our democratic allies. 
Later today we will take up a resolution on the remarkable exercise in 
democracy in Iraq last Sunday. In fact January was a strong month for 
democracy in the region. On January 9, the Palestinian people went to 
the polls to select a new president. This election, in which Mahmoud 
Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority, occurred in 
the wake of an ongoing violent intifada against Israel; violence whose 
direct cause of was a vacuum of credible leadership willing to confront 
terrorists in the West Bank and Gaza.
  In December I traveled to Jerusalem and Ramallah to discuss 
preparations for the Palestinian presidential election. I found those 
Palestinian leaders I met to be eager to demonstrate to the world that 
their presidential election would be free and fair. And today we 
congratulate the Palestinian people for conducting a presidential 
election that has been widely regarded as both free and fair.
  During the voting, Israel's efforts to balance the security of its 
people with easing the ability of Palestinians to vote in the West Bank 
and Gaza were vital to the success of the Palestinian election and 
Israel should be commended for its efforts.
  The presidential election on January 9 represented a real opportunity 
for the Palestinian people to make a statement about their own future 
by rejecting violent and extremist leaders in favor of those who favor 
a moderate approach to lasting peace with Israel.
  Today we commend President Mahmoud Abbas for his victory in the 
Palestinian presidential election. For many years the Palestinians have 
been without a leader committed to good faith negotiations toward peace 
with Israel. It is my sincere hope that the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas 
may finally change that.
  The news today that the Israeli and Palestinian senior leaderships 
will hold a summit in Egypt is encouraging. We should all encourage 
this effort and hope that trust can be built among the region's 
leaders. However, as we have learned the hard way during this conflict, 
peace will not be achieved through words spoken at a table. A lasting 
peace will require patience, strong leadership, and above all a 
realistic approach to the underlying issues. Few of these qualities 
existed in the previous leader of the Palestinian Authority. It is not 
clear that they exist in Mahmoud Abbas, but we are hopeful.
  While Mahmoud Abbas once renounced the use of terrorism during his 
premiership in

[[Page E222]]

2003, his message to Israel and to the international community during 
his election campaign was mixed. Now that he has taken office, results 
are to be expected in the form of a clear policy that terrorism and 
terrorist incitement in any form will not be tolerated within those 
territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority. I am 
hopeful, but only to the point of realistic expectation, that Mahmoud 
Abbas will take advantage of this opportunity and that a lasting peace 
will emerge.

                          ____________________