[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 142 (Thursday, September 22, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5892-S5893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SOLIDARITY WITH ISRAEL ACT

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to add Senator 
Mitch McConnell from Kentucky and Senator Cornyn from Texas as 
cosponsors on S. 1595, the Solidarity with Israel Act.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I encourage all Senators to get on board 
with that bill. It is time to send messages that the U.N. will 
understand.
  Madam President, it appears the leader of the Palestinian Liberation 
Organization and the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is going to 
request that the United Nations recognize Palestine as a member state. 
This action will create a major, unnecessary, and avoidable obstacle 
for peace. It is quite simply intolerable.
  For that reason, yesterday I, along with 15 of my colleagues, 
including my colleague and friend from Kentucky, the Republican leader, 
introduced S. 1595, the Solidarity with Israel Act. Should the United 
Nations recognize a Palestinian state, this legislation would terminate 
the U.S. funding for the U.N.
  I recognize that the consequences for recognizing a Palestinian state 
are severe, but they are appropriate.
  Recognition of a Palestinian state at this point would undermine the 
peace process, and some have even questioned its legality. It would be 
a deeply irresponsible action that brings into further doubt the 
legitimacy of the United Nations as a good-faith actor in securing a 
more peaceful, more free, and more democratic world.
  As I, and many of my colleagues have repeatedly stated on the floor 
of the Senate, the sole means to create a lasting and enduring peace 
between Israel and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations. By 
attempting an end run around these negotiations--and make no mistake, 
that is the aspiration of this Palestinian endeavor--the only result 
would be to delay the critical decisions which must be made to obtain a 
durable peace.
  What is required is leadership--real leadership--to impress upon the 
Palestinians and the world community that if the United Nations 
capitulates and changes Palestine's status before a comprehensive peace 
agreement is reached, there will be consequences. Unfortunately, 
President Obama, in his speech to the United Nations yesterday, failed 
to provide that leadership and to take control of this quickly 
deteriorating situation.
  Accordingly, yesterday, I and my colleagues introduced the Solidarity 
with Israel Act. The United States can and should exercise its Security 
Council veto if the Palestinians make good on their threat to attempt 
to change their U.N. status. However, the use of our veto power might 
not be enough to stop this subterfuge.
  There are two methods by which the Palestinians could attempt to 
change their United Nations status. The first is to have the Security 
Council recommend to the General Assembly that Palestine become a 
member nation of the United Nations. But in the Security Council, the 
United States can veto a proposed change. However, the Palestinians 
also have another means to alter their status. They could petition the 
General Assembly directly--where the United States does not have a 
veto--and seek an upgrade from their current position as a permanent 
observer entity to a nonobserver state. If this occurs, the 
Palestinians will be in a much better position to manipulate U.N.-
affiliated agencies, such as the International Criminal Court.
  It should go without saying, but I will remind this body that the 
prospect of Palestinians bringing actions against Israel's leaders and 
military forces for defending our sovereign ally's right to exist is 
completely unacceptable.
  We should expect more from the United Nations, but in spite of its 
sweeping statements in support of individual rights and peace, it has a 
mixed record at best when it comes to the treatment of Israel, a 
liberal democracy. The low point of its long and tarnished history on 
this subject was the General Assembly's contemptible 1975 resolution 
equating Zionism with racism. A General Assembly upgrade of the 
Palestinians to nonobserver statehood status would be another in a long 
line of hostile acts toward Israel and another hindrance to the peace 
prospect and process.
  Deterring this outcome is the primary objective of the Solidarity 
with Israel Act. Israel is a friend and ally of the United States. It 
is a beacon of democracy and liberality in a part of the world that is 
too frequently lacking in both. Although the Palestinians have 
officially recognized Israel's right to exist, their rhetoric continues 
to bring the strength of this commitment into question.
  Therefore, we cannot sit passively while the United Nations 
undermines Israel. Simply put, if the United Nations votes to harm our 
trusted ally by changing Palestine's U.N. status, this legislation 
would require termination of U.S. funding of the United Nations until a 
comprehensive peace agreement is reached with Israel.
  The message of our legislation is also simple. The time for these 
types of games has ended. We will not stand by and allow a political 
spectacle to be created which only maligns our ally. The Solidarity 
with Israel Act seeks to deter those who would engage in false charades 
and redirect the international community toward promoting the only 
means to truly achieve a lasting peace: direct negotiations between 
Israel and the Palestinians.

[[Page S5893]]

  It is my earnest hope that even greater numbers of Members will join 
us in this cause. I think this is an important issue, and I hope we can 
get every Member of this community, of this Senate, to join with us in 
this particular cause.

                          ____________________