[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 70 (Tuesday, May 24, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1075-E1076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E1075]]
 REMARKS OF SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO THE AMERICAN ISRAEL 
                        PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 24, 2005

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, the American Israel 
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is holding its annual policy 
conference in Washington this week, and most of us will be receiving 
visits this week from our constituents who are here for this important 
yearly event.
  Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, our Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, 
delivered the key address on behalf of the Administration to the AIPAC 
conference. Secretary Rice articulated in a clear and elegant manner 
the diverse and intense ties that bind the United States and our 
democratic ally Israel. As Secretary Rice reaffirmed as she began her 
speech, ``Israel has no greater friend and no stronger supporter than 
the United States of America.''
  The strength of our relationship with Israel has transcended 
administrations and political parties. It was a critical and an intense 
relationship from the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, when 
President Harry Truman extended U.S. recognition to the Jewish state 
only eleven minutes after its independence was proclaimed. This 
relationship has continued through 57 years and eleven presidential 
administrations of both parties. Israel continues to enjoy strong 
bipartisan and bicameral support here in the Congress of the United 
States.
  Though Israel and the United States have had close ties for more than 
half a century, conditions have changed, the world has changed, and our 
relationship has changed with the times as well. Secretary Rice has put 
American-Israeli ties in the framework of our ongoing fight against 
terrorism and our increasingly globalized world. She has emphasized the 
continuing importance of America's relationship with Israel to the 
American people and its relevance to the Administration's effort to 
foster democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law 
throughout the Middle East.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that Secretary Rice's address be placed in the 
Record, and I urge my colleagues to read and give attention to her 
thoughtful remarks.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Remarks at the AIPAC Annual Policy 
                        Conference May 23, 2005

       Thank you very much. Let me begin by saying that Israel has 
     no greater friend and no stronger supporter than the United 
     States of America. For over half a century, AIPAC has 
     strengthened the religious, cultural and political bonds that 
     unite our two great nations, and I thank you for that.
       The United States and Israel share much in common. We both 
     affirm the innate freedom and dignity of every human life, 
     not as prizes that people confer to one another, but as 
     divine gifts of the Almighty. As Thomas Jefferson once wrote, 
     ``The God that gave us liberty and life gave them to us at 
     the same time.''
       Moral clarity is an essential virtue in our world today and 
     for 60 years cynics and skeptics have proven that we have 
     been looking to false choices in the Middle East. They have 
     claimed that we must choose either freedom or stability, 
     either democracy or security. They have said that the United 
     States could either uphold its principles or advance its 
     policies.
       But by trying to purchase stability at the price of 
     liberty, we achieved neither and we saw the result of that on 
     a fine September morning. That is why President Bush has 
     rejected 60 years of false choices in the Middle East. And as 
     he said last week at the International Republican Institute, 
     ``The United States has a new policy, a strategy that 
     recognizes that the best way to defeat the ideology that uses 
     terror as a weapon is to spread freedom and democracy.''
       The President holds the deep belief that all human beings 
     desire and deserve to live in liberty. This idea, of course, 
     did not immediately find favor. Many continued to defend the 
     false choices of the past. But we knew then and we know now 
     America's message is clear, our principles are sound and our 
     policies are right, and today the nations of the world are 
     finally joining with the United States to support the cause 
     of freedom.
       We measure our success in the democratic revolutions that 
     have stunned the entire world: vibrant revolutions of rose 
     and orange and purple and tulip and cedar. The destiny of the 
     Middle East is bound up in this global expansion of freedom. 
     The days of thinking that this region was somehow immune to 
     democracy are over. Working with our G-8 partners, the United 
     States has created the Broader Middle East and North Africa 
     Initiative to build partnerships with people in the region 
     who are working for greater liberty.
       The flagship of this bold new policy is the Forum for the 
     Future, an unprecedented international venue to amplify the 
     voices of reform that are redefining the region. Together, we 
     will tackle the urgent goals of the Forum: political 
     openness, economic liberty, educational opportunity and the 
     empowerment of women.
       Today, nations all across the world are speaking a common 
     language of reform and they are helping citizens throughout 
     the broader Middle East to transform the parameters of debate 
     in their societies. The people of this region are expressing 
     ideas and taking actions that would have been unthinkable 
     only one year ago.
       Some in the Arab media have even asked why the only real 
     democracies in the Middle East are found in the ``occupied 
     lands'' of Iraq and the Palestinian territories. What an 
     incredible thought. Today, citizens in the region are 
     demanding that their governments respond to this simple, 
     audacious question.
       And many states will have to answer their people's call for 
     genuine reform. Jordan and Bahrain and Qatar and Morocco are 
     all taking steps to introduce greater openness into their 
     political systems. Egypt has amended its constitution with 
     electoral reform. And even Saudi Arabia has held multiple 
     elections. And just last week, remarkably, the Kuwaiti 
     legislature granted its women citizens the right to vote.
       Kuwait's recognition that it must include all of its people 
     in political life is, hopefully, an example that its 
     neighbors will follow. In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of 
     citizens have demanded an end to the foreign suffocation of 
     their country. With strong international support, led by the 
     United States and by France, and with an explicit mandate 
     from the United Nations Security Council, Syria has gotten 
     the message loud and clear that it is not welcome in Lebanon.
       The Syrian regime has withdrawn its decades-long military 
     presence. And at the end of this month, the Lebanese people 
     will go to the polls and set a new course of action. But we 
     cannot rest. Syria must also remove its intelligence forces 
     and allow the Lebanese people to be free.
       To be sure, a vital source of inspiration for all of these 
     reformers comes from the people of Iraq, who defied threats 
     of murder to vote in free elections in January. They declared 
     with one voice that the will of the people, not the whim of a 
     dictator, would determine Iraq's future. They declared with 
     that same voice that no Iraqi regime would ever again torture 
     its people, invade its neighbors, attack its neighbors and 
     offer financial incentives to Palestinian homicide bombers.
       Today, Iraq has a transitional government that will soon 
     begin framing a new national constitution. Free nations 
     everywhere have rallied to Iraq's side. There is a coalition 
     of 30 countries helping the Iraqi people to defend themselves 
     from murderers and terrorists. NATO is training Iraq's army 
     officers, police forces and civilian administrators. And next 
     month, at the request of Iraq's new government, the United 
     States and the European Union will co-host an international 
     conference to build greater support for democracy, prosperity 
     and security.
       Now, I speak to these reform efforts because the United 
     States looks to a future and has a vision of a day when 
     Israel is no longer the sole democracy in the Middle East. 
     This aspiration shapes the very heart of our approach to the 
     Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well. For four years, 
     President Bush refused to meet with Yasser Arafat. He did so 
     because Arafat valued neither Israel's security nor his own 
     people's liberty.
       There were those who ridiculed this principled decision as 
     if the refusal to negotiate with a man who aided and abetted 
     terrorism somehow revealed a lack of concern for peace. 
     America and Israel had tried before to gain peace where 
     democracy did not exist and we are not going down that road 
     again.
       Instead, President Bush advanced a vision of two democratic 
     states: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and 
     security. And today, the Palestinian people are trying to 
     meet this democratic challenge. In January, they voted in 
     historic elections for a leader who rejects violence as a 
     path to peace. President Abbas has committed to both freedom 
     and security and President Bush has offered his hand in 
     friendship, just as he promised he would.
       In three days, when they meet together here in Washington, 
     they will build a relationship that is one that is based on 
     the good faith that only democratic leaders can bring. The 
     President will be clear that there are commitments to be met, 
     that there are goals to be met, but that democracy is a goal 
     that is unassailable and incontrovertible.
       Prime Minister Sharon has also recognized that Israel is 
     gaining a legitimate partner for peace and he has made 
     courageous decisions that could change the course of history. 
     Beginning in August, Prime Minister Sharon will implement his 
     plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank. 
     Israel's disengagement strategy presents an unprecedented and 
     incredibly delicate opportunity for peace and we must all 
     work together to capitalize on this precious moment.
       To strengthen our present opportunities, all nations must 
     meet their obligations. Israel must take no actions that 
     prejudice a final settlement or jeopardize the true viability 
     of the Palestinian state. And Israel must help to create the 
     conditions for the emergence of that democratic state.
       The Palestinian Authority must advance democratic reform 
     and it must dismantle all terrorist networks in its society.
       Arab states must end incitement in their media, cut off all 
     support for terrorism and extremist education, and establish 
     normal relations with Israel.
       To nurture our present opportunity, President Bush proposed 
     and the Quartet nations

[[Page E1076]]

     endorsed the appointment of James Wolfensohn as Special Envoy 
     for Gaza Disengagement. Jim Wolfensohn will help the Israelis 
     and Palestinians coordinate on non-military aspects of their 
     disengagement, including disposition of assets and 
     revitalization of the Palestinian economy.
       To protect our present opportunity, President Bush has sent 
     General William Ward to help the Palestinians reform their 
     security services. General Ward is also coordinating all 
     international security assistance to the Palestinians, 
     including training and equipment.
       To expand our present opportunity, the United States has 
     greatly increased our financial assistance to the Palestinian 
     people. We are pledging $350 million to help the Palestinians 
     build the free institutions of their democratic state. This 
     is an unprecedented contribution to the future of peace and 
     freedom in the Middle East.
       Yes, this past year has brought forth a dramatic shift in 
     the political landscape of the Middle East. But this moment 
     of transformation is very fragile and it still has committed 
     enemies, particularly the Government of Iran, which is the 
     world's leading sponsor of terrorism.
       The United States has focused the world's attention on 
     Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. And along with 
     our allies, we are working to gain full disclosure of Iran's 
     efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. The world must not 
     tolerate any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon. Nor 
     can it tolerate Iran's efforts to subvert democratic 
     governments through terrorism.
       Ladies and gentlemen, the Middle East is changing and even 
     the unelected leaders in Tehran must recognize this fact. 
     They must know that the energy of reform that is building all 
     around them will one day inspire Iran's citizens to demand 
     their liberty and their rights. The United States stands with 
     the people of Iran.
       President Bush has declared that advancing the cause of 
     freedom is the calling of our time and in the broader Middle 
     East, his policies are expanding the scope of what many 
     thought possible. With our support, the people of the region 
     are demonstrating that all great human achievement begins 
     with free individuals who do not accept that the reality of 
     today must also be the reality of tomorrow. Of course, there 
     will always be cynics and skeptics who hold the misguided 
     belief that if they can not see their goal, then it cannot be 
     possible. They will try to elevate their cynicism by calling 
     it realism and they will criticize all who echo the stirring 
     words of Theodore Hertzel, ``If you will it, it is no 
     dream.''
       In 1776, cynics and skeptics could not see an independent 
     America, so they doubted that it could be so. They saw only 
     13 colonies that could never hang together and would surely 
     hang separately. But there were others who had a vision, a 
     vision of the United States as a free and great nation, a 
     democracy, and one day, a complete multiethnic society. With 
     perseverance, the American people made that vision a reality. 
     In 1948, cynics and skeptics could not see the promise of 
     Israel, so they doubted it, said it could never be fulfilled. 
     They saw only a wounded and wandering people beset on all 
     sides by hostile armies.
       But there were those who had another vision, a vision of a 
     Jewish state that would shelter its children, defend its 
     sacred homeland, turn its desert soil green and reaffirm the 
     principles of freedom and democracy. With courage, the 
     Israeli people made that vision a reality.
       Today, cynics and skeptics cannot see a democratic Middle 
     East, so they doubt that it is a realistic goal. They focus 
     only on the despotism that has shaped the region's past and 
     still defines much of its present. But ladies and gentlemen, 
     make no mistake, freedom is on the march in Afghanistan and 
     Iraq and in Lebanon and in Georgia and Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan 
     and in the Palestinian territories.
       Yes, it is hard and progress is uneven. There are violent 
     men who will stop at nothing to prevent democracy's rise. Yet 
     people all across the Middle East today are talking and 
     demonstrating and sharing their vision for a democratic 
     future. Many have given their very lives to this noble 
     purpose.
       The United States and Israel must defend the aspirations of 
     all people who long to be free. And with our unwavering 
     support, we can help to make the promise of democracy a 
     reality for the entire region. Thank you very much.

     

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