[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 16948]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                HOSTILITIES BETWEEN HEZBOLLAH AND ISRAEL

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I am pleased to join Senator Dodd, Senator 
Sununu and our other cosponsors in offering Senate Resolution 548, 
which expresses the sense of the Senate regarding the need for the 
United States and the international community to take certain actions 
with respect to the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.
  Like all Americans, I am deeply concerned about the ongoing violence 
and the loss of civilian lives in the Middle East.
  Hezbollah, an organization on the State Department's list of 
terrorist organizations, must accept full responsibility for sparking 
this latest round of violence. I support Israel's right to defend 
itself in response to Hezbollah's acts of terrorism against it. As this 
resolution urges, I hope that the governments of Iran and Syria will 
end their material and logistical support for Hezbollah and use their 
significant influence over Hezbollah to disarm the group and release 
all kidnapped prisoners.
  As this resolution also urges, I favor the United States and the 
international community working with the governments of Israel and 
Lebanon on an urgent basis to attain a cessation in the hostilities 
between Hezbollah and Israel based on: the safe return of Israeli 
soldiers held by Hezbollah; the disarmament of Hezbollah, the removal 
of all Hezbollah forces from southern Lebanon, and the replacement of 
those forces with army and security forces of the Government of 
Lebanon; an reaching an agreement to fully implement United Nations 
Security Counsel Resolution 1559 and to create and deploy an 
international stabilization force with a clear mandate to enforce a 
permanent ceasefire.
  I also hope that the U.S. Government and the international community 
will work together to organize an international donors conference to 
solicit and ensure the provision of international support for the 
reconstruction of Lebanon's infrastructure; and to remain engaged to 
promote sustainable peace and security for Israel and Lebanon and the 
greater Middle East.

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