[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20644-20645]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              ON THE CONFLICT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pallone) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to express my extreme 
concern that the fragile peace in the Middle East could easily fall 
apart if we continue to sit idly by and watch Lebanon and the UN troops 
do virtually nothing to disarm the Hezbollah terrorist group.
  It seems to me that the international community may be in serious 
danger of repeating mistakes from the past. More than 2 years ago, the 
UN passed Security Council Resolution 1559, which called on Lebanon to 
disarm militias operating within the country's borders, including the 
Hezbollah terrorist group. Two years later, rather than seeing 
Hezbollah disarm, we saw a resurgent militia that raided an Israeli 
military post and started a month long conflict. Lebanon clearly failed 
to meet its requirements under the Security County resolution and 
Hezbollah actually got stronger with more weapons smuggled in from Iran 
and Syria.
  Now we are in the process of implementing Security Council Resolution 
1701, and there is plenty of reason to worry that the same thing will 
happen all over again. Hezbollah is refusing to disarm and refusing to 
let UNIFIL, the expanded UN force in the region, take any action 
against them. The Lebanese government seems to be giving Hezbollah a 
pass as well, saying that they will let the terrorist group keep their 
weapons, as long as they remain hidden.
  What is worse, the UN force is sitting in Lebanon with little clue as 
to what they are supposed to do. They are apparently operating only at 
the behest of the Lebanese government, which doesn't seem to want the 
international troops to take any action.
  The fact remains, however, that Hezbollah dominated Southern Lebanon 
and became a proxy for Iran and Syria because the Lebanese government 
was unwilling to take action and because the Lebanese army was 
incapable of using real force. If the UN troops aren't there to 
actually help carry out the terms of Resolution 1701, what exactly are 
they doing in the region?
  Mr. Speaker, just as troubling is the fact that Lebanon seems to want 
to do

[[Page 20645]]

little to control their border with Syria, where most of Hezbollah's 
arms are being smuggled through. They have declined to invite 
international forces to deploy along that border, even though it is 
clear that the Lebanese army cannot do what it takes to control and 
secure crossings between the two countries. Leaving this at the 
discretion of the Lebanese government is a recipe for deja vu, a 
rearming of Hezbollah and a renewal of the recent conflict.
  Mr. Speaker, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has 
made it clear that they have no intention of complying with the demands 
of the resolution. He announced last week that the terrorist group has 
no intention of surrendering its weapons, and even threatened the 
international forces not to try. I cannot comprehend why the United 
States and the international community would stay silent in the face of 
such blatant defiance of international will.
  It is clear that President Bush must show decisive leadership to urge 
the international community to take measures needed to accomplish the 
goals of Security Council Resolution 1701. Lebanon cannot be allowed to 
continue to hold international forces at bay while it does nothing to 
confront Hezbollah's operations.
  The U.S. and other nations cannot sit idly by and watch a terrorist 
group rearm and regroup in preparation for attacking Israel again and 
further destabilizing the region. The international force needs to be 
beefed up closer to the authorized level of 15,000 troops and given the 
mandate it needs to ensure compliance with the resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, we also must take action to let Hezbollah supporters, 
Syria and Iran, know that the international community will not turn a 
blind eye towards their blatant support of terrorism against Israel. 
The U.S. must implement the full range of sanctions under the Syria 
Accountability Act until it is clear that Syria is no longer funneling 
weapons and other support to Hezbollah.
  Mr. Speaker, if we are serious about maintaining stability in the 
Middle East and moving towards a lasting peace, then we need to be 
serious in our oversight of the implementation of the ceasefire between 
Israel and Hezbollah. Standing by and watching will only embolden the 
terrorists.

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