[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4358]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      VIOLENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FOLEY. First, let me commend the House, Mr. Speaker, for its 
passage of the very, very important retirement security bill today, the 
Pension Security Act of 2002. I state emphatically, the bill brings 
about some necessary reform.
  My best quote, if you will, relative to this important legislation 
is, if it is good enough for the brass, it ought to be the same for the 
middle-class workers. So hopefully we have leveled the playing field, 
provided some protection, and it is well overdue. I commend the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Portman) for his outstanding efforts on 
leading us in this direction. He has been working on this for years.
  This is not as a result of Enron, but it certainly has been aided and 
abetted by that scandal that took place in Texas, so I am thrilled we 
are able to pass it to the floor today.
  Let us turn our attention to a very serious issue that is confronting 
the world, if you will, and that is what is going on in the Middle 
East.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to reiterate my strong support for Israel. 
There is no escaping the mire of violence that has taken such a 
horrible toll in the Middle East. All of us wish collectively that 
peace would come sooner rather than later for the Israelis and the 
Palestinians. But in the interim, we must look past the graphic images 
being broadcast on the nightly news and fully appreciate why the United 
States has such a stake in what is happening there.
  Israel has been a strong, true partner of the United States, 
anchoring our policies in the Middle East. A strong, true partner, I 
want to underscore those important words. Whatever second-guessing 
anyone might have over tactics, Israel must have the ability to protect 
itself and its people in what has become a dangerous and hostile 
everyday environment.
  From its inception, Israel, which is the most stable democracy in the 
region, has shown strength and resolve in the face of adversity. The 
war of terrorism that has increasingly been waged against it has become 
untenable and inexcusable. Both Israelis and Palestinians now live in a 
constant state of fear, a fear that their lives may end in a 
restaurant, an open-air market, or simply crossing the street.
  Let me underscore, this is not between military personnel on each 
side, this is about average citizens, men, women, and children, going 
about their daily lives, being blown up in the streets of these cities. 
Before September 11, few Americans could imagine such fear. Even after 
September 11, it remains hard to envision living our everyday lives 
with the ghost of death almost hovering. Yet, this is what Israel faces 
and Israelis face every day.
  Since the new wave of terrorism has swept over the land, this is what 
many Palestinians also face. Yet, the Palestinian leadership continues 
to escalate the violence, plunging the region further into chaos.
  We have a moral obligation to both the Israelis and the Palestinians 
to forge ahead for peace, but we also must keep in mind that many of 
Israel's enemies have sworn to destroy the country of Israel. They hate 
Jews. The Jihad, the Islamic Jihad, the Hezbollah, the Hamas are all 
desperate to destroy others because of their ethnicity or religious 
belief.
  For Americans, the shells that fall in the Middle East impact us here 
close to home. Just as the carpenter would not start building a home on 
a soft sand foundation, we cannot hope to defeat terrorism at home and 
abroad when terrorism in the Middle East undermines the very foundation 
of peace we seek to achieve.
  This has certainly not been lost on my constituents, many of whom 
have mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, 
and friends in Israel. It should not be lost on anyone who recognizes 
that the United States cannot fight a successful war against terrorism 
unless and until the Arab world in general and the Palestinians in 
particular join us in seeking peace, not war in the guise of Jihad, and 
certainly not in martyrdom.
  It is a troubling time for us, it is a troubling time for them, and I 
urge that we all work collectively in support of Secretary Powell's 
visit there on behalf of the President of the United States. I think it 
is clear that we must do all we can to achieve peace, but it has to be 
a just peace for all.
  I have often felt that if average Israelis and Palestinians could 
meet together and sort this out, they probably would. I have very 
little confidence in Mr. Arafat. I have very little confidence. He 
attempts to show a good face and smiling demeanor when he talks peace 
in the United States, as he has many times, and then he goes back home 
and straps a rifle to his waist and swaggers around and insists that he 
has no interest in dealing with Israelis, in order to keep his job.
  It is about time we stopped worrying about keeping our jobs and 
started worrying about saving lives. I urge all sides to begin 
immediately, before more deaths take the innocent.

                          ____________________