[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2564-H2565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1745
                          ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. McMahon) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McMAHON. Mr. Speaker, my colleagues, I rise this afternoon to 
speak to a very alarming and disconcerting issue that continues to grow 
unchecked around the world, and that is the debilitating and negative 
effects that the Islamic Republic of Iran is having around the world.
  Mr. Speaker, as we all know, we are very concerned about peace in the 
Middle East, and we know that it's very important that our great friend 
and ally, Israel, continue in negotiations with the Palestinians to 
come to a resolution of the issues that exist there. However, I believe 
we cannot expect success to come there unless we look at the role that 
Iran is playing on that issue and so many other dangerous issues around 
the world. It is acting in a way that is against the interest in our 
great ally Israel and our allies around the world and our Nation as 
well.
  Mr. Speaker, indeed the Palestinian negotiations in Iran are very 
much linked, but not in the way that those who want to pressure Israel 
would argue. The connection between these two critical foreign policy 
issues stems from Iran's perceived veto power over the ability of 
Israelis and Palestinians to come to terms.
  Acting as Iran's proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas are used to destabilize 
the region by engaging in hostile military activities or significant 
acts of terror at the will of the Islamic Republic. Furthermore, an 
environment conducive to peace is disrupted by the increased 
weaponization of the region. Already huge numbers of rockets have been 
illegally shipped to Hezbollah by Iran in violation of Security Council 
Resolution 1701. Likewise, arms and ammunition have been smuggled into 
Gaza and to Hamas through similar routes.
  Thus, for those who want peace between Israel and the Palestinians, 
Iran must be brought under control. But it isn't just in the 
Palestinian Authority where Iran is making trouble. Iran is training 
and funding actors hostile to the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq 
and also providing lethal munitions such as materials used in the

[[Page H2565]]

IEDs to kill and maim our troops and allies. Examples of civil unrest 
throughout Iraq, northeastern Saudi Arabia, and even Bosnia have also 
been tied to the Quds force which conducts overseas operations for 
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
  And we must not ignore Syria's partnership with Iran either. Syria is 
a client of Iran and together with Hezbollah--an Iranian-controlled 
entity--in neighboring Lebanon, Lebanese Christians and moderate 
Muslims fear raising their voices against the Syrian hegemony over 
Lebanon, reversing the gains made in the Cedar Revolution that resulted 
in the end of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.
  Unfortunately, Iran's tentacles extend across continents and into our 
Western Hemisphere as well. Iran has entered into a strategic alliance 
with Venezuela, opening the path for Hugo Chavez to further his anti-
U.S. activities in South America. And even more concerning, Venezuela 
is helping Iran circumvent the Security Council's economic sanctions 
and is also suspected of providing Tehran with uranium.
  Finally, as smaller Arab states in the gulf witness the rise in 
Iranian power, a power which will be confirmed once it reaches the 
nuclear threshold, they too will follow this path and attempt to forge 
an alliance with this new regional superpower.
  For this reason, Mr. Speaker, it is crucial that Congress move 
swiftly with the administration towards curtailing Iran's nuclear 
ambitions. Decades of inaction have allowed Iran's influence to sweep 
across the globe. We cannot allow Iran to move further as its influence 
creeps through our own hemisphere.
  Back in the 1930s as the power of Nazi Germany grew, people like 
Winston Churchill sounded the alarm. But all too often that alarm was 
ignored.
  The alarm is being sounded here in this Chamber and is being sounded 
across the world. We must act to stop the insidious influence of Iran 
around the world, and we must do it on every front. The time to act is 
now. And the way to act is, as I urge my colleagues, that we move 
swiftly to complete the passage of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions 
Act and the Iran Human Rights Violation Sanctions Act which we must 
bring to conference committee and send to the President for signature.

                          ____________________