[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 65 (Tuesday, May 23, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     STATEMENT ON H.R. 4681, PALESTINIAN ANTI-TERRORISM ACT OF 2006

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                               speech of

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 22, 2006

  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, today, the House considers H.R. 4681, 
legislation that I'm sad to say is both overbroad in its reach and 
misses the mark by penalizing the Palestinian people without compelling 
Hamas to abandon its anti-Israeli rhetoric, its rejectionist policies 
and its support for terror and violence.
  First of all, Madam Speaker, I want to be clear: I have always and 
continue to unequivocally denounce and condemn any and all terrorist 
acts, whether committed by Hamas or any other terrorist group.
  That is why I voted for S. Con. Res 79 in February which declared 
that that no U.S. assistance should be provided directly to the 
Palestinian Authority if any representative political party holding a 
majority of parliamentary seats within the Palestinian Authority 
maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel.
  My position on Hamas's responsibilities in light of its having 
attained a majority of seats in the Palestinian Legisltive Council, and 
thus its assumption of power as the governing party of the Palestinian 
Authority, has been clear:
  Hamas must recognize Israel; Hamas must renounce violence and 
terrorism; Hamas must abide by previous peace agreements, like the Oslo 
accord, and act in accordance with the Roadmap; and
  Hamas must return the Palestinians to the negotiating table with 
Israel, and reach the mutually agreeable peace agreement that is called 
for in the Roadmap and the earlier agreements.
  This is Hamas's responsibility of governance. I believe the United 
States should do everything that it can to both insist upon and to 
facilitate Hamas taking up this burden of responsibility, and we should 
not rest until the goal of a negotiated settlement is achieved. 
Moreover, we should not slow the Middle East peace process by making 
these targets preconditions for our engagement in the process. As the 
assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin reminded us: I do not 
need to make peace with my friends.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to understand that engagement and 
negotiation for peace is a process not an event, and it necessarily 
involves the belligerents to a conflict not those whom we would aspire 
to put at the negotiating table.
  I agree that we should not fund Hamas, but not at the expense of 
average Palestinians which is the end result of this legislation. Among 
other things, this legislation obstructs a

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