[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 141 (Wednesday, September 21, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H6330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  (Mr. FLAKE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FLAKE. Madam Speaker, what happens at the United Nations this 
week will have a profound and lasting effect on the prospects for peace 
in the Middle East. If the Palestinian Authority succeeds in obtaining 
U.N. recognition for a Palestinian state, it will only delay genuine 
efforts at a negotiated settlement.
  Israel has, for many years, cooperated in good faith with Palestinian 
and international efforts to mediate peace and work toward a two-state 
solution. It has made many concessions, some of which were not always 
in Israel's best interest. The Palestinians, unsatisfied with these 
efforts at the negotiating table, are seeking an end-run around Israel 
in an attempt to gain statehood by means of the United Nations.
  Watching this spectacle unfold, I was reminded of the time I spent in 
Namibia in the late eighties and early nineties, where the U.N. General 
Assembly had arbitrarily designated one of the political parties the 
sole and authentic representative of the Namibian people. That had the 
effect of delaying the negotiating process that ultimately led to 
Namibia's independence. The same designation was awarded several 
decades ago to the PLO, and it had a similar effect.
  The U.S. Government should use all the tools at its disposal, fiscal 
and otherwise, to ensure that that same outcome is avoided here.

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