[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 50 (Tuesday, April 1, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H1836-H1839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING CREATION OF REFUGEE POPULATIONS
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to
the resolution (H. Res. 185) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives regarding the creation of refugee populations in the
Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region as a result of
human rights violations, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 185
Whereas armed conflicts in the Middle East have created
refugee populations numbering in the millions and comprised
of peoples from many ethnic, religious, and national
backgrounds;
Whereas Jews have lived mostly as a minority in the Middle
East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf region for more than
2,500 years;
Whereas the United States has long voiced its concern about
the mistreatment of minorities and the violation of human
rights in the Middle East and elsewhere;
Whereas the United States continues to play a pivotal role
in seeking an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle
East and to promoting a peace that will benefit all the
peoples of the region;
Whereas United States administrations historically have
called for a just solution to the Palestinian refugee
problem;
Whereas the Palestinian refugee issue has received
considerable attention from countries of the world while the
issue of Jewish refugees from the Arab and Muslim worlds has
received very little attention;
Whereas a comprehensive peace in the region will require
the resolution of all outstanding issues through bilateral
and multilateral negotiations involving all concerned
parties;
Whereas approximately 850,000 Jews have been displaced from
Arab countries since the declaration of the State of Israel
in 1948;
Whereas the United States has demonstrated interest and
concern about the mistreatment, violation of rights, forced
expulsion, and expropriation of assets of minority
populations in general, and in particular, former Jewish
refugees displaced from Arab countries as evidenced, inter
alia, by--
(1) the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President
Jimmy Carter and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan on
October 4, 1977, which states that ``[a] solution of the
problem of Arab refugees and Jewish refugees will be
discussed in accordance with rules which should be agreed'';
(2) after negotiating the Camp David Accords, the Framework
for Peace in the Middle East, the statement by President
Jimmy Carter in a press conference on October 27, 1977, that
``Palestinians have rights . . . obviously there are Jewish
refugees . . . they have the same rights as others do''; and
(3) in an interview after Camp David II in July 2000, at
which the issue of Jewish refugees displaced from Arab lands
was discussed, the statement by President Clinton that
``There will have to be some sort of international fund set
up for the refugees. There is, I think, some interest,
interestingly enough, on both sides, in also having a fund
which compensates the Israelis who were made refugees by the
war, which occurred after the birth of the State of Israel.
Israel is full of people, Jewish people, who lived in
predominantly Arab countries who came to Israel because they
were made refugees in their own land.'';
Whereas the international definition of a refugee clearly
applies to Jews who fled the persecution of Arab regimes,
where a refugee is a person who ``owing to a well-founded
fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion,
nationality, membership of a particular social group, or
political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality,
and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to
avail himself of the protection of that country'' (the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees);
Whereas on January 29, 1957, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), determined that Jews
fleeing from Arab countries were refugees that fell within
the mandate of the UNHCR;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of
November 22, 1967, calls for a ``just settlement of the
refugee problem'' without distinction between Palestinian and
Jewish refugees, and this is evidenced by--
(1) the Soviet Union's United Nations delegation attempt to
restrict the ``just settlement'' mentioned in Resolution 242
solely to Palestinian refugees (S/8236, discussed by the
Security Council at its 1382nd meeting of November 22, 1967,
notably at paragraph 117, in the words of Ambassador
Kouznetsov of the Soviet Union), but this attempt failed,
signifying the international community's intention of having
the resolution address the rights of all Middle East
refugees; and
(2) a statement by Justice Arthur Goldberg, the United
States' Chief Delegate to the United Nations at that time,
who was instrumental in drafting the unanimously adopted
Resolution 242, where he has pointed out that ``The
resolution addresses the objective of `achieving a just
settlement of the refugee problem'. This language presumably
refers both to Arab and Jewish refugees, for about an equal
number of each abandoned their homes as a result of the
several wars.'';
Whereas in his opening remarks before the January 28, 1992,
organizational meeting for multilateral negotiations on the
Middle East in Moscow, United States Secretary of State James
Baker made no distinction between Palestinian refugees and
Jewish refugees in articulating the mission of the Refugee
Working Group, stating that ``[t]he refugee group will
consider practical ways of improving the lot of people
throughout the region who have been displaced from their
homes'';
Whereas the Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to
the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, which refers in Phase III
to an ``agreed, just, fair, and realistic solution to the
refugee issue,'' uses language that is equally applicable to
all persons displaced as a result of the conflict in the
Middle East;
Whereas Israel's agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the
Palestinians have affirmed that a comprehensive solution to
the Arab-Israeli conflict will require a just solution to the
plight of all ``refugees'';
Whereas the initiative to secure rights and redress for
Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries does not conflict
with the right of Palestinian refugees to claim redress;
Whereas all countries should be aware of the plight of Jews
and other minority groups displaced from countries in the
Middle East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf;
Whereas an international campaign is proceeding in some 40
countries to record the history and legacy of Jewish refugees
from Arab countries;
Whereas a just, comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace cannot be
reached without addressing the uprooting of centuries-old
Jewish communities in the Middle East, North Africa, and the
Persian Gulf; and
Whereas it would be inappropriate and unjust for the United
States to recognize rights for Palestinian refugees without
recognizing equal rights for Jewish refugees from Arab
countries: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) for any comprehensive Middle East peace agreement to be
credible and enduring, the agreement must address and resolve
all outstanding issues relating to the legitimate rights of
all refugees, including Jews, Christians, and other
populations, displaced from countries in the Middle East; and
(2) the President should instruct the United States
Representative to the United Nations and all United States
representatives in bilateral and multilateral fora to--
[[Page H1837]]
(A) use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States
to ensure that any resolutions relating to the issue of
Middle East refugees, and which include a reference to the
required resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue, must
also include a similarly explicit reference to the resolution
of the issue of Jewish refugees from Arab countries; and
(B) make clear that the United States Government supports
the position that, as an integral part of any comprehensive
Arab-Israeli peace, the issue of refugees from the Middle
East, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf must be resolved in
a manner that includes recognition of the legitimate rights
of and losses incurred by all refugees displaced from Arab
countries, including Jews, Christians, and other groups.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
California (Mr. Berman) and the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California.
General Leave
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from California?
There was no objection.
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I would first like to commend my distinguished
colleague, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), for introducing
this important resolution.
When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, more than 150,000 Jews
lived in Iraq. Iraq was truly a cradle of Jewish civilization, a site
of Jewish learning from which one of Judaism's holiest books, the
Talmud, emerged. For more than two millennia, as history books will
attest, Jews also made vital contributions to wider Iraqi society.
Indeed, like Jews throughout the Arab world, Iraqi Jews for most of
that long era enjoyed a quality of life far better than that of most
Jewish communities in Europe.
That all changed for good in 1948, and in the years immediately
preceding 1948, when the state of Israel declared its independence.
Throughout the Arab world, Jews then became the objects of official
scorn and often were fired from their jobs en masse. In many places,
violence ensued against Jewish communities. Continuing to use Iraq as
an example, that 150,000-strong community by 1952 had shrunk to a mere
30,000. The rest, the other 120,000, had effectively been forced out.
Overall, approximately 850,000 Jewish residents of the Arab world
were expelled or otherwise forced to leave their homes, abandoning
possessions and patrimony, in the years following Israel's creation in
1948. Vibrant, generations-old communities withered to near-negligible
numbers.
That Iraqi community of 150,000 Jews in 1948 has dwindled to about
ten today. In Egypt, a community of 75,000 in 1945 now numbers 50 to
100. In Aden, Yemen, a community of 63,000 in 1948 has shrunk to about
200 today. And 140,000 Jews lived in Tunisia in 1948; fewer than 100
remain. In Morocco, which is hailed today as the bastion of Jewish-Arab
coexistence in the Arab world, a thriving community of more than a
quarter million Jews lived their lives in peace before 1948. Today,
there are perhaps 5,000 Jews residing in Morocco. Some left willingly;
most felt they had no choice.
For centuries, long before the advent of Islam and long after it,
Jewish communities lived peacefully and often prosperously and
productively in Arab lands, among Arab people.
Their forced relocation and the material value they lost when they
were compelled to abandon their homes and other property in Arab
countries has never been redressed. Not one Jew from the Arab world has
been compensated for his losses. Each one had to start over from
scratch in his new land.
Compare the Jewish refugee experience with the Palestinian refugee
experience. Neither Jewish refugees themselves, nor Israel, which was
an underdeveloped country at the time it hosted most of these refugees,
sought international aid from United Nations organizations or other
international organizations. Both refugees and hosts envisioned and
sought full integration into the larger society. The Arab world, in
contrast, demanded the international community foot the bill for the
refugees, who were to be kept in camps that, to this day, breed
frustration, hatred and dependence.
The result of these contrasting approaches is this: While the plight
of Palestinian refugees is well known throughout the world, has been
the subject of numerous U.N. resolutions, and has been a major element
in every Arab-Israeli peace plan, the plight of Jewish refugees is
rarely mentioned.
Nevertheless, the rights and redress of Jewish refugees deserve
recognition in any peace settlement. And, indeed, numerous
international agreements pertaining to the Arab-Israeli conflict have
been codified with the rights of Jewish refugees in mind.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 calls for a ``just settlement to
the refugee problem,'' without limiting that problem to Palestinians.
Presidents Carter and Clinton each explicitly stated that the issue of
Jewish refugees must be part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace
agreement.
{time} 1300
And lest there be any doubt about their status, let me point out this
very important fact: The United Nations High Commission on Refugees in
1957 mandated that Jewish people who fled Arab countries are, indeed,
``refugees.''
The right of Jewish refugees from Middle Eastern lands to seek
redress does not in any way conflict with the right of Palestinian
refugees to seek redress, and the resolution before us states this
explicitly. This resolution merely expresses the sense of Congress that
Jewish refugees also should not be denied their legitimate rights.
We are simply seeking to ensure that any comprehensive Middle East
settlement is just and fully just to all the parties. That sentiment of
basic fairness is one I fully embrace.
I strongly support this resolution. And I again congratulate my
colleague, Mr. Nadler, for offering it.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House Resolution 185
regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, north
Africa, and the Persian Gulf region resulting from human rights
violations.
Discussions of Middle Eastern refugees invariably focus exclusively
and short-sightedly on the plight of those of Palestinian descent. Few
are aware of the injustices faced by hundreds of thousands of Jews,
Christians and others who fled from Arab lands and Iran either as a
direct result of the Arab-Israeli conflict or from persecution
associated with that conflict.
Perhaps the most telling example, Madam Speaker, is the case of the
Jewish refugees from Arab lands. Many Jews saw their communities, which
had existed vibrantly for centuries even before the advent of Islam,
systematically dismantled. Their populations throughout the Arab world
and Iran was reduced from over 1 million to just several thousand. They
lost their resources, their homes, and their heritage sites fleeing in
the face of persecution, pogroms and brutal dictatorships.
Jewish refugees who fled Arab countries and Iran left behind what
today amounts to billions of dollars in assets. Not only have they
received not one thin dime of compensation to this day, but their
plight has not even received recognition by the United Nations nor
similar international institutions.
While countless U.N. resolutions have been adopted focusing on the
Palestinian refugee issue, no conferences have been held on the Jewish
refugees. No U.N. agencies nor international human rights organizations
address their fate. Failure to recognize their plight, Madam Speaker,
along with the plight of the Christian communities throughout the
region, only serves to perpetuate their suffering. Therefore, in past
Congresses, I have sponsored resolutions similar to the one before us
today, House Resolution 185. This resolution urges greater recognition
of the plight of these often overlooked refugees, it emphasizes that
any comprehensive Middle East peace agreement can only be credible, can
only be enduring if it resolves all issues related to the rights of all
refugees in the Arab world and Iran, including Jews, Christians and
others.
[[Page H1838]]
I am proud to be the lead Republican cosponsor of this resolution.
And I thank my good friend and my colleague from New York, Congressman
Jerry Nadler, for having the insight to introduce it.
I urge the House to adopt this very important resolution.
And with that, Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the sponsor of the
resolution, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler).
Mr. NADLER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution which I
introduced, along with Representatives Ros-Lehtinen, Crowley and
Ferguson. I am proud to stand alongside of them, as well as Chairman
Berman and Representative Ackerman, who have been strong leaders on the
issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands, in this historic moment of
recognition of these refugees.
I would also like to take a moment to commend the leadership of our
late chairman, Tom Lantos, whose leadership on this issue and on all
human rights issues has been critical to opening this debate and to
recognizing the rights of refugees throughout the world.
This resolution is not just about a forgotten chapter of history. For
centuries, long before the advent of Islam and long after it, Jewish
communities lived peacefully and often prosperously and productively in
Arab lands among Arab people. Their forced relocation and the material
value they lost when they were compelled to abandon their homes and
other properties in Arab countries has never been redressed. For
example, in Iraq, a community of 150,000 in 1948 dwindles to around 10
today. In Egypt, a community of 75,000 in 1945 became between 50 and
100 today. In Yemen and Aden, 63,000 in 1948 became 200 in 2003.
140,000 Jews lived in Tunisia in 1948, less than 100 remained in 2004.
In Morocco, which is hailed today as a bastion of Jewish-Arab
coexistence in the Arab world, a thriving community of more than a
quarter million Jews lived their lives in peace by 1948; by 2003, only
5,500 remained. Some left willingly, most did not.
While the plight of Palestinian refugees is well known throughout the
world and has been a major element in every Arab-Israeli peace plan and
negotiation, the plight of these Jewish refugees is rarely mentioned
these days. Nevertheless, numerous international agreements pertaining
to the Arab-Israeli conflict have been codified with the rights of the
Jewish refugees in mind. U.N. Security Council resolution 242, passed
on November 22, 1967, after the Six Day War, calls for a just
settlement to the refugee problem without limiting that problem to
Palestinians. In fact, the Soviet Union tried to limit that resolution
to Palestinians and it was rejected.
Presidents Carter and Clinton stated explicitly that the issue of
Jewish refugees must be a part of any comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace
agreement. And lest there be any doubt about this status, the U.N. High
Commission on Refugees in 1957 ruled that Jewish people that fled Arab
countries were, indeed, ``refugees.''
This principle is reaffirmed in the Camp David Accords and in the
Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. The treaty states, ``The parties agree
to establish a Claims Committee for the mutual settlement of all
financial claims.'' And it also states, ``Jewish refugees have the same
rights as others do.''
These Jewish refugees, Madam Speaker, were expelled systematically
under official regime policies, which included state-fostered anti-
Jewish decrees, pogroms, murders and hangings, anti-Semitic incitement
and ethnic cleansing. They were done in accordance with an Arab League
1947 decree that provided a formula to promote state-sanctioned
discriminatory measures that were replicated in many Arab countries in
a deliberate campaign to expel the entire Jewish population from their
home countries. And unlike the Palestinians, the Jewish refugees,
having been expelled from the Arab countries, were absorbed into their
host countries, mostly by Israel. About 600,000 refugees went to
Israel, and the remaining 300,000 fled to other countries, such as
France, Canada, Italy and the United States. In Israel today, the
majority of the population consists of Jews from Arab countries and
their children and grandchildren.
The right of Jewish refugees from Middle Eastern lands to seek
redress does not in any way conflict with the rights of Palestinian
refugees to seek redress, and resolution states this explicitly. This
resolution merely expresses the sense of Congress that Jewish refugees,
many of whom were so effectively absorbed by the State of Israel,
should not be denied their legitimate rights and compensation for the
property of which they were deprived.
The resolution further states that a comprehensive Middle East peace
agreement can be credible and enduring only if it achieves legitimate
rights of all refugees, ``including Jews, Christians and other
populations'' displaced from Middle East countries. Importantly, it
also resolves that the President should instruct the U.S.
Representative at the U.N. and all U.S. representatives in bilateral
and multilateral fora to use their voice, their vote and the influence
of the United States to ensure that any resolutions relating to the
issue of Middle East refugees which include a reference to the required
resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue must also include a
similarly explicit reference to the resolution of the issue of Jewish
refugees from Arab countries, and to make clear that the United States
Government supports the position that as an integral part of any
comprehensive and much to be desired Arab-Israeli peace, the issue of
refugees from the Middle East, north Africa and the Persian Gulf must
be resolved in a manner that includes recognition of the legitimate
rights of and losses incurred by all refugees displaced from Arab
countries, including Jews, Christians and other groups.
There is broad bipartisan support for this resolution, which was
passed with unanimous consent from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Many
Jewish groups have endorsed the resolution, including the American
Jewish Committee, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations, Hadassah, the Union for Reform Judaism, the Jewish
Council for Public Affairs, the Anti-Defamation League, and the
Orthodox Union, among others. I must particularly acknowledge the work
of B'nai B'rith International and the strong leadership of Justice for
Jews from Arab Countries, which has led the International Rights and
Redress Campaign. As of September 2007, this coalition to secure the
rights of Jewish refugees from Arab lands includes 72 organizations and
20 countries.
It is important to deal with this issue now while some of the
original refugees are still alive. Justice for Jews from Arab Countries
has organized a campaign to conduct public education programs on the
heritage and rights of former Jewish refugees from Arab countries, to
register family history narratives, and to catalogue communal and
individual losses suffered by Jews who fled from Arab countries.
By adopting this resolution and urging that the rights of Jewish
refugees be recognized in any future comprehensive Middle East
settlement, we are simply seeking to ensure that any such agreement is
just, fully just to all parties. As a member of the Quartet, and in
light of the United States' central and indispensable role in promoting
a just Middle East peace, the U.S. must reaffirm that it embraces a
just and comprehensive approach to the issue of Middle East refugees. I
urge strong report for this resolution.
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlelady from
Nevada (Ms. Berkley).
Ms. BERKLEY. I thank the gentleman for yielding and for his
leadership on this important issue.
Madam Speaker, when Israel declared its independence in May, 1948,
seven Arab nations immediately attacked the fledgling country and
sought to drive Israel into the sea. Simultaneously, many of the same
Arab nations forced their own Jewish citizens to leave their ancestral
homes, making refugees out of nearly one million people.
The issue of Jewish refugees from Arab lands speaks to one of the
fundamental problems of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Many Arab countries
have refused to accept the existence of Israel,
[[Page H1839]]
while cynically exploiting the Palestinian refugees in their war
against Israel. Arab leaders willingly agree to confine the
Palestinians to squalid camps where terrorism and extremism and hate
are bred instead of resettling them and welcoming their Palestinian
brothers to their own oil rich lands. They claim a ``right of return''
for Palestinian refugees in the hope that they will flood Israel in
order to undermine and ultimately destroy the Jewish State of Israel.
Madam Speaker, this resolution begins to set the record straight,
while setting out a balanced approach to address the refugee issue, all
refugees.
Any peace plan must look at both sides of the refugee issue in an
equal way. We must acknowledge the Jewish refugees from Arab lands, be
aware of the hidden agenda behind a Palestinian ``right of return'' and
expose the obstructive role played by both the Arab nations and the
United Nations in the refugee issue. We must find just solutions for
all refugees in this conflict, redressing the grievances of all sides
while retaining Israel's integrity as a Jewish state.
Mr. WEXLER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of House
Resolution 185, expressing the sense of the House of Representatives
regarding the creation of refugee populations in the Middle East, North
Africa, and the Persian Gulf region as a result of unacceptable human
rights violations and blatant anti-Semitism.
For over 2,500 years, Jewish communities have resided throughout the
Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf region in large numbers.
Unfortunately these vibrant Jewish communities have often been
considered second-class citizens under onerous rulers. In the 20th
century, widespread persecution and mass violations of human rights
against Jewish minorities in Arab countries became unfortunately
commonplace.
Upon the declaration of the State of Israel's independence in 1948,
the difficult status of Jewish minorities was greatly exacerbated as
Arab nations declared war or supported the destruction of the nascent
state. In response, many members of the Jewish community were forced to
flee their countries of birth or faced becoming a political hostage.
Jewish properties were unlawfully seized and confiscated without any
compensation or just redress. While there were once nearly a million
Jews living in these regions, today there are only a few thousand Jews
remaining in these Arab countries.
Unconscionably, the story of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries
has been neglected by the United Nations and the international
community for far too long. While Palestinian refugees from Israel have
been one of the focal points of the international community, Jewish
refugees from Arab states have been forgotten, if not intentionally
ignored. This resolution recognizes the over 850,000 Jewish refugees
from Arab states and expresses the sense of Congress that the
international community should acknowledge the Jewish refugee issue as
a part of any settlement of the Middle East conflict.
It is clear that the violations of human rights against Jewish
refugees from Arab countries have never been adequately addressed by
the international community. As a cosponsor of H. Res. 185, I believe
it is essential that Congress work with the administration to rectify
this black mark on history. To this end, I urge my colleagues to join
me in supporting this resolution, which sheds light on the plight of
Jewish refugees throughout the Middle East.
Mr. KUCINICH. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 185. I
commend this body for recognizing the rights of Jewish refugees
displaced from Arab countries. I agree that a resolution that addresses
the legitimate rights of all refugees is inherent to establishing
enduring peace in the Middle East.
The resolution draws its strength by including all refugees in the
Middle East, including Jews, Christians, minority communities, Iraqis,
and Palestinians. A lasting peace in the Middle East must abate
feelings of hostility throughout all refugee populations. As the
resolution suggests, this includes recognition of Jewish, Palestinian,
and Christian refugee populations but must also encompass all Middle
East refugee populations ``numbering in the hundreds of thousands and
comprised of peoples from many ethnic, religious, and national
backgrounds.''
As such, I urge this body to continue to be mindful of and work
toward peaceful, enduring solutions for all refugee populations in the
Middle East. Currently the two largest refugee populations in the world
are Iraqi and Palestinian refugees. The United Nations has estimated
that there are approximately 2,000,000 Iraqi refugees currently
displaced from their homes (and another 2,200,000 internally
displaced). These Iraqi refugees endure deprivation of food, shelter,
and medical care. The United States must be mindful of the role of our
foreign policy in the creation of this refugee population and our
continuing role in addressing this humanitarian crisis.
United Nations-recognized Palestinian refugees currently constitute
an approximate 3,700,000-person population. According to the United
Nations Relief and Work Agency, UNRWA, of these refugees, approximately
1,300,000 Palestinian refugees continue to live in 58 recognized
refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and the Gaza
Strip. Moreover, ongoing Israeli policies like settlement expansion,
which contravene the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention as well
as the basis of Palestinian-Israeli peace agreements, create new
refugee populations today.
I support H. Res. 185 for recognizing the displacement, human rights,
suffering and loss of all refugees. I encourage this body to do so in a
way that brings us closer to establishing a just and long-lasting Arab-
Israeli peace. To make this dream a reality we must truly rise to
become the ``honest broker'' of peace in the Middle East.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
so I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from California (Mr. Berman) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 185, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________