[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 85 (Thursday, May 22, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REAFFIRMING SUPPORT FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON UNDER PRIME MINISTER 
                             FOUAD SINIORA

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 20, 2008

  Mr. BERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, 
and yield myself as much time as I may consume.
  With this resolution, we affirm our support for the legitimate 
government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and condemn the actions of 
Hizballah that recently provoked the most severe sectarian conflict in 
Lebanon since the miserable 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.
  As we meet this morning, the fate of Lebanon hangs in the balance. 
Will Lebanon belong to its secular, pro-Western majority--or will it 
fall to Iran and its proxies? Terrorist Hizballah, showing contempt for 
legitimate authority and employing violence against Lebanon's most 
progressive forces, has made a strong bid to prove that the answer to 
that question is that pro-Iranian forces will dominate Lebanon. That is 
why it is important for this body to go on record--forcefully--as 
backing the Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's democratically-elected 
government. We cannot win the battle for the Lebanese--they must do 
that themselves--but we can at least demonstrate our solidarity.
  When the government sought to assert its sovereignty by taking on 
Hizballah's illegal, private intelligence network, Hizballah responded 
by taking over parts of Beirut by force, shutting the major roads to 
the airport and initiating sectarian violence throughout Lebanon.
  Hizballah fighters also shut down Saad Hariri's pro-government 
television station and torched the building housing Hariri's newspaper. 
They besieged the homes of Hariri and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, 
another pillar of the legitimate governing coalition under Prime 
Minister Fouad Siniora.
  These actions were intended to deepen Hizballah's control of its 
state-within-a-state, to intimidate Lebanon's rulers and thereby 
increase Hizballah's influence throughout the nation, and, most 
worrisome, to push Lebanon deeper into an Iranian-Syrian sphere of 
influence.
  Unfortunately, Hizballah's violence worked, and the government backed 
down rather than risk civil war. At least for now, the government has 
abandoned its plans to close Hizballah's private communications network 
and remove a pro-Hizballah general who presides over security at Beirut 
International Airport. Perhaps the government will re-coup some of its 
losses during negotiations with Hizballah now taking place in Qatar--
but it will not be easy.
  Let me make two points. First, it is time to go beyond words. It is 
time for the United Nations Security Council to take specific actions 
in response to Syria's and Iran's flouting of Lebanese sovereignty in 
direct contravention of UN Security Council resolutions. Resolution 
1701 forbids the transfer of arms into Lebanon without the consent of 
the Lebanese government. Resolution 1747, passed under Chapter VII, 
forbids Iran from transferring arms to any entity.
  Iran provides training, equipment, and arms for Hizballah. Syria, at 
the least, facilitates the transfer of these arms. The resolution 
before us urges the Security Council to ban all air traffic between 
Iran and Lebanon and between Iran and Syria. It calls on all states on 
transit routes between Iran and Lebanon to implement strict controls. A 
total ban on commercial flights to and from Iran and Syria--such as 
that which brought Libya to its knees--also should not be ruled out.
  Second, it is long past time for the European Union to designate 
Hizballah as a terrorist group and treat it accordingly. The European 
insistence that Hizballah should be seen as a legitimate political 
party is now transparently undermined by facts on ground, including the 
more than 80 Lebanese who have needlessly perished in the fighting of 
the past week.
  Legitimate political parties do not have an independent military 
capability. They do not initiate wars with neighboring states. And they 
do not engage in international terrorism.
  Last week The New York Times quoted Israeli journalist Ehud Yaari as 
labeling Iran's growing regional influence as ``a pax Iranica.'' 
Fortunately, there are brave men and women in Lebanon who want to 
resist this pax Iranica, and at their head, I believe, is Prime 
Minister Siniora and his government, even if their most recent effort 
to assert their sovereignty over the Hizballah terrorists has fallen 
short. Now is the time for us to affirm our support for him and his 
legitimate, democratically-elected government and to urge the 
international community to do likewise.
  That is why I support this resolution, and ask my colleagues to 
support it as well.

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