[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 19, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCING A BIPARTISAN RESOLUTION EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR ADDRESSING 
   THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT IN A CONCURRENT TRACK WITH THE ISRAELI-
   PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS AND COMMENDING ARAB AND MUSLIM-MAJORITY 
       STATES THAT HAVE IMPROVED BILATERAL RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 19, 2019

  Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bipartisan 
resolution supporting the concurrent-track approach to the Israeli-
Palestinian peace process. I want to acknowledge and thank my 
colleagues, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, and 
Representatives David Schweikert and Rob Woodall, for introducing this 
resolution with me today.
  The Israeli-Palestinian conflict presents an immensely difficult 
challenge--a challenge to which there are no easy answers. Successive 
United States Presidential administrations have pursued peace 
agreements between the parties for over three decades, from the 1982 
Reagan Plan for Middle East Peace to the 1993 Oslo Accords, Camp David 
Summit, Clinton Parameters, Annapolis Conference, and efforts to 
restart the peace process under the Obama Administration. President 
Donald Trump has announced that he too will soon unveil a plan for 
peace.
  Despite a lack of progress on a formal agreement, Israel and some of 
her Arab neighbors have worked quietly and behind the scenes to improve 
bilateral relations in recent years. Common threats posed by Iran and 
violent extremism allowed for new dialogue to take root, and today, 
Israel enjoys closer relations to many of its neighbors in the region. 
These efforts represent an opportunity to improve security, stability, 
and prosperity in the Middle East. The concurrent-track approach--where 
Arab and Muslim-majority states work to improve their bilateral 
relations with Israel as Israel and the Palestinian Authority work 
concurrently to advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process--should 
be embraced by our government as a new paradigm for the region. The 
resolution I am introducing today expresses support for this approach 
and commends Arab and Muslim-majority states that have already taken 
steps to improve their bilateral relations with Israel.
  I, like nearly all of my colleagues in Congress, continue to support 
a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, negotiated 
between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and 
resulting in two states for two peoples, living side-by-side in peace, 
security, and mutual recognition. This is the only way to ensure that 
both the Israeli people and the Palestinian people can have sovereign 
homelands. The inability to achieve a two-state solution threatens the 
State of Israel's security and identity as the democratic homeland of 
the Jewish people, just as it impedes the well-being and self-
determination of the Palestinian people.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure passage of 
this resolution.

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