[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 52 (Thursday, March 26, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H4048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         26TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EGYPTIAN-ISRAELI PEACE TREATY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, today I wish to acknowledge and express 
deep gratitude to timeless leaders President Jimmy Carter, Egyptian 
President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for 
their historic, unprecedented and courageous journey toward peace in 
the Middle East three decades ago today. March 26 marks the anniversary 
of their signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, momentous in 
that it was the first such treaty between an Arab nation and the nation 
of Israel. It followed the Camp David Accords which these leaders had 
signed the prior year. They signed it right here on the White House 
lawn.
  I can remember the day. History will record for all time that 
incredible step forward of lions and lambs lying down their arms and 
their fears. I can still recall the day of that signing. It was a sunny 
day, as the three leaders pledged their political and personal capital 
to that unprecedented feat. It was historic. It was bold. And it was 
costly. In 1981, an assassin in Cairo would take the life of President 
Anwar al-Sadat. In 1983, Menachem Begin resigned. President Jimmy 
Carter lost his re-election campaign.
  President Jimmy Carter and his gifted National Security adviser, 
Zbigniew Brezezinski, carry the collective living memory of that 
pristine moment of the Camp David Peace Accord and the Egyptian Israeli 
Peace Treaty. To date, only one other Arab nation has signed a peace 
accord with the nation of Israel, Jordan, in 1994, well over 10 years 
later, through the equally courageous vision of its timeless leader, 
King Hussein.
  Looking back, as today's upheaval across the Middle East reminds us 
of old fractures and unmet potential, we can ask, how did these men do 
it? How did they make history?
  The enmity between people and nations was no less. The prospects 
forward seemed very dim at that time. Yet, their inspired and dogged 
efforts did not take no for an answer. That peace agreement ended 30 
years of war between Israel and Egypt. Now we have seen 30 years of 
peace between them. By anyone's measure, this remains the most 
important set of diplomatic achievements in the Middle East in modern 
history. We need to celebrate them.
  And as we honor the achievement of these leaders, and the nations to 
which they dedicated their lives, let us remember what they did.
  President Jimmy Carter stated, ``War may sometimes be a necessary 
evil. But no matter how necessary, it is always an evil, never a good. 
We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each others' 
children.''
  Prime Minister Menachem Begin said, ``If through your efforts and 
sacrifice, you win liberty and with it the prospect of peace, then work 
for peace because there is no mission in life more sacred.''
  And President Anwar al-Sadat said, ``Peace is much more precious than 
a piece of land.''
  Could we only recapture that moment again. How much our world still 
owes these men for leading history forward, for showing us the way. 
They did not allow the status quo or entrenched rivalries and worn-out 
dreams to quash the prospect of peace. They gave their all to it. 
Today, we commemorate and we celebrate their greatness.

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