[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 149 (Tuesday, November 27, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 OPPOSITION TO H. RES. 813: EXPRESSING VIGOROUS SUPPORT AND UNWAVERING 
   COMMITMENT TO THE WELFARE, SECURITY, AND SURVIVAL OF THE STATE OF 
   ISRAEL AS A JEWISH AND DEMOCRATIC STATE WITH SECURE BORDERS, AND 
RECOGNIZING AND STRONGLY SUPPORTING ITS RIGHT TO ACT IN SELF-DEFENSE TO 
             PROTECT ITS CITIZENS AGAINST ACTS OF TERRORISM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 27, 2012

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H. Res. 813, an 
unfortunately and unnecessarily one-sided resolution that was brought 
up on Friday, November 16, for consideration without any advance notice 
to Members of Congress and which was completed in about a minute 
without any discussion. The hasty nature in which this resolution of 
such significance was considered undermines the unspoken, but 
operationally essential understanding, that bills of great importance 
will not be quietly tiptoed through Congress. A loss of Members' 
confidence in Leadership results when House floor procedures are 
conducted in a manner frustrating to good faith. Such conduct can only 
add to the hyper-partisanship and the breakdown of comity in Congress 
that Americans find objectionable.
  Members must be given the opportunity to debate U.S. support of a 
military operation that is likely to be of significant consequence in 
talks between Israel and the Palestinians. This impacts the region and 
the world.
  Only one minute for consideration of a most consequential resolution 
in the House, when in the past week, the death toll in Gaza has climbed 
past 100, including 24 children. Over 800 people are reported to have 
been wounded. Rockets from groups in Gaza have landed in several 
Israeli towns. Three Israelis have been killed.
  This latest military escalation began after Israel assassinated Ahmed 
Al-Jabari, the head of Hamas' military wing. According to Israeli 
negotiator Gershon Baskin, who secured the release of Gilad Shalit, Mr. 
Jabari ``wasn't just interested in a long-term cease-fire; he was also 
the person responsible for enforcing previous cease-fire 
understandings. . . . On the morning that he was killed, Mr. Jabari 
received a draft proposal for an extended cease-fire with Israel, 
including mechanisms that would verify intentions and ensure 
compliance.'' Could anything be more destructive of peace than the 
assassination of a principal to ceasefire negotiations? And the House 
only has one minute to consider the ramifications of such action?
  The root of this latest flare up in hostilities is deep. Negotiations 
between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution have been 
virtually non-existent. Innocent people in Gaza continue to suffer 
under a blockade that has deprived them of everything from food and 
clean water to educational opportunities. Illegal settlements continue 
to be built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, further diminishing 
prospects for a negotiated two-state solution.
  The hastily written, and even more hastily passed resolution, fails 
to mention any of that. In its deficiencies are writ the failures of 
our own Middle East policies. This latest outbreak in violence is 
deplorable and I am strongly supportive of Egyptian efforts to 
negotiate a ceasefire. Innocent people on both sides deserve to live 
without fear. Can the House Leadership spare a minute for that point to 
be made?

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