[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19538]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 EGYPT

  (Mr. CHANDLER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CHANDLER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about problems that 
have arisen on the border between Egypt and Gaza.
  Since the Hamas military took over all power in Gaza there has been 
massive smuggling of arms into Gaza along the border with Egypt, often 
by the use of tunnels that are proliferating along the border.
  The Egyptian government has made efforts to curb the smuggling by 
closing the border between their country and Gaza and by assigning more 
security personnel to patrol the border. However, the border remains 
porous in many areas and weapons continue to find their way across the 
border and into the hands of Hamas fighters.
  With fears of refugees pouring into Egypt from Gaza and fears that 
Hamas will escalate its attack on Israel, this situation has become 
both a security and a humanitarian concern. Egypt has vowed to partner 
with Israel, the United States, and the European Union to work toward a 
solution.
  While part of the solution will be immediate increases in security 
forces at the border, a long-term solution is also needed. Egypt must 
take responsibility for the actions of its own people, and Israel must 
support Egypt's good-faith efforts.
  I hope we can come to some resolution of this problem.

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