[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 53 (Friday, April 4, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING CREATION OF REFUGEE POPULATION

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                               speech of

                           HON. KEITH ELLISON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 1, 2008

   Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, this week the House passed House 
Resolution 185, which expresses the sense of the House regarding the 
existence of refugee populations in the Middle East, North Africa, and 
the Persian Gulf region. In addition to the international concern about 
Palestinian refugees, this resolution calls attention to the injustices 
suffered by Jews and other ethnic groups that have lived as minorities 
in the region. I fully support this resolution's call for recognition 
of the rights of former Jewish, Christian, and other refugees from Arab 
countries.
   While much of the resolution is important and sets forth 
historically accurate information, the final paragraph of the resolving 
clause conditions resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on 
resolution of ``all refugees displaced from Arab countries.'' I share 
the goal of resolving all refugee issues in the Middle East, but I do 
not believe it is likely that they can be resolved through the 
Annapolis process or some future Israeli-Palestinian negotiating 
process. In my view, imposing such a condition will likely doom 
Annapolis and any subsequent good-faith effort to follow the roadmap to 
a permanent two-state solution first laid out in 2003. I certainly hope 
that all Middle Eastern refugee issues can and will he resolved, 
including refugees of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other minority 
faiths, but I cannot support linking the resolution of all Middle 
Eastern refugee issues to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict. It's not fair to Israelis or to Palestinians to tie the 
resolution of their conflict to a global resolution of all Middle 
Eastern refugee issues.
   I also disagree with the way the U.S. Congress, by passing this 
measure, has imposed new stipulations for any agreement, which 
effectively ties the hands of the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.
   These negotiators already have enough roadblocks to dismantle; the 
last thing that they need is the U.S.
   Congress trying to prescribe a certain method or outcome on a 
difficult issue in the negotiations, which is the refugee issue. Many 
of my colleagues and I believe the Annapolis negotiations have not gone 
as well as we hoped, but they are still--for the moment--moving 
forward. Rather than trying to impose a particular outcome on refugee 
issues, the Congress should express its support of the process and 
encourage the parties to work toward resolution of the issues they have 
already agreed are most essential.
   Again, I favor reducing the impediments to a final resolution to the 
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead, this week's resolution raises a 
new roadblock to the implementation of the roadmap. I urge all parties 
to support the peace process as they carefully balance the interests of 
all refugees. Let's support the negotiations, move the panics to final 
status, and work towards of vision of peace.

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