[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 28, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6349-S6350]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FOREIGN TRAVEL
Mr. SPECTER. It has been my custom to make a report to the Congress
and my constituents and the general public when I return from a trip,
which I did on July 11, having started on July 3, and having visited
the Czech Republic, Israel, Syria, and Croatia. I will ask at the
conclusion of my comments the full text of my prepared statement be
printed in the Record.
A few supplementary comments about my visits to Israel and Syria: The
Mideast peace process is of enormous importance, not only to that
region but to U.S. national security interests and to the interest of
peace in the world. The Palestinian track seems to be stuck with the
controversies over the neighborhoods, also referred to as the
settlements. But the administration is hard at work through special
envoy former Senator George Mitchell moving ahead on that line.
I believe the time is ripe now for movement on the Israel-Syria
track. I say that based on the conversations I had with Israeli and
Syrian officials. I was invited to come to Damascus. I have been to
Syria on many occasions in the past, starting in 1984. I have been
there some 19 times. This was the first time that I received a specific
invitation from President Bashar al-Assad to come there. I believe that
is an indication, which President Assad is very open about, of his
interest in having peace talks with Israel without preconditions.
He immediately follows that with a statement that Syria has a right
to the Golan Heights. But it is no surprise that this is being asserted
from the Syrian point of view.
Only Israel should decide for itself whether it wishes to trade the
Golan for other national security interests, for concerns about
Hezbollah and Hamas and the link with Iran--whatever effect there may
be with the Iranian-Syrian relationship and the stabilization of
Lebanon. But it is a different world today than it was in 1967 in an
era of rockets, so the security interests are very different.
The Israelis and the Syrians came very close to a peace agreement in
1995 and again in the year 2000. Turkey had been brokering talks
between Israel and Syria, but the Turkish envoys have withdrawn after
the so-called flotilla incident, asking Israel for an apology. Since
none is forthcoming, the Turks are not brokering that issue. So it
seems to me with the role the United States played, the very active
role of former President Clinton--with U.S. participation I believe the
prospects are good and there could be a treaty there.
Israel has significant potential gains--to stop the shelling by Hamas
from the south and the threat and potential shelling from Hezbollah
from the north, and also the relationship between Syria and Iran.
President Assad said to me that Iran supports Syria, but Syria does not
support Iran. With the recent action by Syria in changing the veiling
requirement, it is an indication that Syria is pursuing being a secular
state with significant differences from the practices in Iran. If it
should become the national interest of Syria to side with the West,
that is a potential which ought to be explored. It is not going to
happen overnight, but it is something worth thinking about and worth
considering.
I now ask unanimous consent that the full text of my prepared
statement be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Mr. President--As is my custom, when I return from foreign
travel, I file a report with the Senate.
From July 3 to July 11, 2010, I traveled to the Czech
Republic, Israel, Syria, and Croatia.
Czech Republic
I arrived in Prague on Sunday, July 4, 2010 after having
departed Washington, D.C. on Saturday with a brief overnight
stay in England. This was my first trip to Prague since
Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and
Slovakia in 1993. The evening of my arrival in Prague, I
dined with U.S. Ambassador John Ordway, who is serving as the
Charge d'Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Prague while the
Senate considers the nomination of Norman Eisen to be U.S.
Ambassador to the Czech Republic. One of the issues we
discussed was his belief in the importance of congressional
travel. In addition to raising Members of Congress'
understanding of world affairs, it provides embassy staff
with opportunities to raise issues of importance with foreign
leaders at higher levels than normally possible. Along these
lines, I was asked to voice my support to Czech officials for
the efforts of Westinghouse--a Pittsburgh-based company--to
build a nuclear power plant in the Czech Republic.
The Westinghouse facility would provide 9,000 American
jobs, create $18 billion in U.S. exports, and would allow the
Czech Republic to reduce its reliance on Russia as an energy
provider. Russia currently provides the Czech Republic with
70 percent of its natural gas, 60 percent of its petroleum,
and 30 percent of its nuclear power.
The following morning I met with Ambassador Ordway and some
of his deputies for a country team briefing. One of the
issues we discussed was the newly-elected Czech Parliament's
plan to balance the national budget by 2013 through cuts in
expenditures and increased indirect taxes. Additionally, we
discussed the Czech Republic's presence in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Approximately 535 Czech soldiers are currently
serving in Afghanistan, and it was the sense of the embassy
staff that public sentiment regarding the mission could
change following the recent deaths of 3 Czech servicemen.
Following the meeting at the Embassy, Ambassador Ordway and
I proceeded to a meeting with Czech President Vaclav Klaus. I
thanked the President for his country's contribution to the
military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he expressed
the belief that while the missions were not popular in the
court of world opinion, something had to be done and the
world could not afford to standby.
I raised the issue of the prospects of forming lasting
democratic institutions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He expressed
the view that he thought democracy would come to Iraq, but
was unsure when. He expressed doubts as to whether it could
ever take hold in Afghanistan.
I urged President Klaus to support Westinghouse's nuclear
bid and he said that he has been impressed with Westinghouse
products since his days as Prime Minister, but added that the
decision would be made by others in the Czech government.
[[Page S6350]]
Knowing President Klaus to be a former economics professor,
I raised the issue of China's unfair subsidization of its
steel industry--something I have fought against and argued
before the International Trade Commission on a number of
occasions--which leads to an unlevel playing field for U.S.
and Czech companies alike. President Klaus shared my
frustration with such practices, but he disagreed when I
suggested the implementation of countervailing duties. It was
his sense that democratic reform in China would be the
greatest driver for improvements in trade practices, although
he could not suggest a timeline for such reform.
I inquired with President Klaus his views of Iran and what
could be done there. While he did not have a direct answer,
he shared a very interesting story about an encounter he had
with Russian Prime Minister Putin and Russian President
Medvedev. He explained that during a conference the three had
attended, both Putin and Medvedev expressed great concern
over the situation in Iran, because of Iran's efforts to
develop a nuclear weapon.
We also discussed efforts to create a lasting Mideast
peace, strategies for dealing with North Korea, and climate
change. With regard to the last issue, knowing me to be
concerned with current changes to the global climate,
President Klaus provided me with a copy of his book ``Blue
Planet in Green Shackles,'' in which he expresses his
skepticism with regard to man's impact on the warming of our
planet.
Israel
We spent most of July 6 traveling to Israel from the Czech
Republic. This was my 27th visit to Israel in my capacity as
a Senator. The following day, I had a series of meetings with
Palestinian Liberation Organization negotiator Dr. Saeb
Erekat, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad,
Israeli Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, Israeli President
Simon Peres, and finally had a dinner meeting with Israeli
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.
My first meeting of the day was with Dr. Saeb Erekat in
Ramallah, someone I have gotten to know very well over the
past 15 years. We opened the meeting with a discussion about
the prospects for peace. Dr. Erekat immediately said that
peace was obtainable--very much in reach--and the next
move lay in the hands of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu. I mentioned that I would be meeting with
Israeli President Peres later that day and Syrian
President Assad the following day. Erekat told me to speak
to Israel about using Turkey to resume the indirect talks
between Israel and Syria. According to him, it was both
his and President Abbas's position that it was in the
Palestinians' interest for Syria and Israel to resume
talks and that the current tension between Israel and
Turkey benefitted no party.
That afternoon I remained in Ramallah to meet with
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. He said he
is focusing on growing the economy in order to undercut
peoples' reliance on Hamas for basic needs. Prime Minister
Fayyad was optimistic that the Palestinian Authority can
regain control of the government from Hamas in the upcoming
elections.
I raised the issue of Israel's talks through Turkey with
Syria. Prime Minister Fayyad was skeptical of the utility of
this track, and indicated his belief that the best course
forward is to formulate a joint public document outlining the
key issues which need to be resolved to make peace. He also
discussed his belief that concerted U.S. involvement could
greatly improve the chances of success.
I asked the Prime Minister if there were other ways the
U.S. could be helpful and he explained that much of the
progress on moving the economy and infrastructure has come
from USAID, including more than $2.9 billion since 1994 for
programs in the areas of water, sanitation, infrastructure,
education, health care, economic growth and democracy.
After meeting with Prime Minister Fayyad, we returned to
Jerusalem where I met with Israeli Opposition Party Leader
Tzipi Livni. We opened the discussions talking about Israel's
indirect talks with Syria through Turkey. She indicated her
belief that an agreement was ``feasible''.
I proceeded to ask her about Prime Minister Fayyad's
assertion that there will be no peace between Israel and the
Palestinians until the Palestinians are united. In her view
talks between Israeli and Palestinians could proceed, and
when an agreement is reached it could be presented to Hamas--
where they would be given a choice work together or be seen
as an obstructionist minority.
That evening I joined Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Daniel Ayalon for dinner. We became friends when he served as
Israel's ambassador to the United States. I opened the
discussion by expressing Dr. Erekat's position that if Prime
Minister Netanyahu were serious about peace, a deal could be
made. Ayalon responded by stating that peace was on the table
in November of 2008 and was rejected by the Palestinians.
During my meeting with Dr. Erekat, he mentioned a situation
where Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman would not
shake his hand, so I raised the issue with Deputy Foreign
Minister Ayalon. He denied the account and referred to
Lieberman's oft-quoted remark that he would give his own
house for peace with the Palestinians.
Before concluding dinner, Ayalon asked me to return with
two messages to the U.S. The first was to pass a request
shorten the life sentence for Jonathan Pollard, a former
civilian intelligence analyst who was convicted of spying for
Israel. The second was to express appreciation for the funds
stemming from the United States-Israel Energy Cooperation
Act of 2007, which authorizes grants to encourage
collaboration between the U.S. and Israel in the research,
development, and commercialization of renewable energy and
energy efficiency technologies. The $4 million
appropriated to date by Congress for this program has been
matched 100 percent by the Israeli Government. Funding has
gone to support eight collaborative projects between
Israelis and American universities and private companies,
including a company based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.
With this funding Israel hopes to reduce its oil
dependence by 50 percent.
Syria
The next morning we flew to Syria--my 19th trip to the
country--via Jordan to meet with President Bashar al-Assad. I
have gotten to know President Bashar al-Assad well over the
past decade, just as I knew his father, Hafez al-Assad. I
opened my meeting with President Assad by expressing regret
that the U.S. Senate had not acted to confirm Robert Ford to
be the Ambassador to Syria, in addition to ambassadors to
other important countries and international bodies. President
Assad replied that he was very pleased by President Obama's
signal that he wanted an American ambassador in Damascus.
I continued the conversation by recounting a discussion I
had recently with Syria's Ambassador to the United States,
Imad Moustapha, in which we discussed the opportunity to
restart talks between Israel and Syria. President Assad
expressed great openness to resuming the talks with Turkey as
the broker.
I pressed Assad on Syria's alleged sale of Scud missiles to
Hezbollah and his support for Hamas and Hezbollah. He asked
for proof on the missile issue and denied the charge. He said
that once there was a Syria-Israeli peace agreement there
would no longer be a reason for any concern about missiles.
Hezbollah or Hamas.
In discussing Iran, President Assad suggested the U.S. work
to improve its relationship with Iran by further pursuing
diplomatic engagement.
As I have done in previous conversations with President
Assad, I expressed my desire that he allow forensic teams
into his country on the missing Israeli soldiers issue. I
also raised again my request that the remains of Eli Cohen be
returned to Israel--or, at a bare minimum, allow a kaddish to
be said over his remains by his widow and a rabbi. He said
those matters would have to await a Syria-Israeli peace
treaty.
Finally, at the urging of the Charge, I asked that recent
changes to Syrian visa regulations--which seem to target
Americans--be reversed in light of the fact that the U.S. has
reduced visa wait periods for Syrians and lifted the Travel
Warning for Syria. President Assad said he would look into
this situation.
Croatia
On Friday, July 9, 2010 I flew to Dubrovnik, Croatia where
I met with U.S. Ambassador Jim Foley. During our meeting
Ambassador Foley underscored Croatia's strong support of the
U.S. and cited its commitment of 300 soldiers to the mission
in Afghanistan. The Ambassador expressed his support for
Croatia's desire to enter the European Union so as to
strengthen the economy and provide incentives for
governmental reform. I inquired about the status of the
Serbian fugitives responsible for the Srebrenica Massacre and
the Ambassador assured me everything was being done to bring
those men to justice. While we were in Croatia, there was a
summit of regional leaders being held in the city.
The next morning I met with Croatian Foreign Minister
Gordan Jandrokovic before the Croatian summit. I expressed my
appreciation for Croatia's efforts in Afghanistan and my
support for Croatia's desire to enter the E.U. He indicated
in response that Croatia plans to expand its troop commitment
in Afghanistan by five percent to 320. We also discussed
efforts to improve relations between Kosovo and Serbia so as
to improve regional security.
We returned to the United States on Sunday, July 11,
following an overnight layover in France.
Mr. SPECTER. In the absence of any other Senator on the floor seeking
recognition, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I ask the time be yielded back so we can
proceed.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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