[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13946]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ``NO'' VOTE NEEDED BY U.N.

  (Mr. ROONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. ROONEY. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, Palestinian Authority President 
Abbas plans to seek recognition of a Palestinian state before the 
United Nations. A vote in the U.N. will bypass bilateral peace 
negotiations between Israel and the P.A. and will threaten the success 
of a mutual solution.
  Leaders in the United States, Israel, and the P.A. have long worked 
toward a mutual solution, and the P.A., seeking unilateral recognition 
from the U.N. is not only harmful to these efforts, but also to the 
security of the State of Israel.
  It's also important to note that the action coincides with a period 
of extreme volatility between Israel and their Middle Eastern 
neighbors. Israel's alliance with Turkey has continued to unravel over 
the past year, and its peace agreement with Egypt is in jeopardy.
  The Palestinian Authority's move to circumvent direct talks with 
Israel will undermine Israel's right to exist. I call for President 
Abbas to withdraw his request for a U.N. vote and instead finally agree 
to sit down at the negotiating table with the U.S. and Israel to 
develop a mutual, legitimate solution.

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