[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 15]
[House]
[Pages 20260-20261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       ISRAEL, TOGETHER WE STAND

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. A few months ago, Prime Minister of 
Israel Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in this 
very Chamber.
  He was welcomed by Members with a standing ovation. Several times 
during his speech, Congress responded with applause. When a person in 
the gallery attempted to disrupt his speech, the entire House stood and 
applauded to show support for the Prime Minister over the disruption.
  The Prime Minister noted that people can speak out in a democracy 
that supports free speech. We all know what happens when citizens 
challenge their governments in Syria, Iran, Libya, and other repressive 
countries. The Prime Minister clearly laid out his concerns for the 
Middle East, support for a two-state solution and a clear and 
unequivocal message against Iran's nuclear weapons development.
  And following his speech, the joint session of Congress gave the 
Prime Minister a closing standing ovation.
  Recently, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman commented on 
Congress' response to the Prime Minister.
  He said: ``I sure hope that Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin 
Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress 
this year was not for his politics. That ovation was bought and paid 
for by the Israel lobby.''
  Now, Madam Speaker, I don't know if Mr. Friedman was in the Chamber 
at the time, and I do not know if he interviewed Members of Congress 
following the Prime Minister's speech. I certainly know he did not 
speak with me nor many of my colleagues before he came to this wrong 
conclusion. So for the record, I wanted to make it clear why I and 
others stood when the Prime Minister of Israel addressed the joint 
session of Congress.
  I rose for the Prime Minister because he is a leader of state. We 
always show respect for such leaders--but in this case, there were 
greater reasons for our action.
  I also rose because Prime Minister Netanyahu is the leader of a 
nation I

[[Page 20261]]

respect, of a people I admire, and of a culture that I cherish.
  I stood up in support of a nation that protects religious freedom for 
all religions even when they are surrounded by other nations that will 
not permit Christian churches nor synagogues to be built and are 
surrounded by those whose people burn down Coptic Christian churches.
  For Israel's tenacity, courage, intelligence, creativity, 
inventiveness, and endurance over thousands of years, I stood in 
respect.
  When Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel must be ``wiped 
off the map'' and ``the uniform shout of the Iranian nation is forever 
`death to Israel''' and that the Western powers ``launched the myth of 
the Holocaust . . . They lied; they put on a show and then they support 
the Jews,'' I stood up in support of Israel and stood against these 
hostile and hateful and false comments.
  While Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons and openly threatens 
Israel and the Middle East and Europe, while some may cower in fearful 
silence, we will stand against nuclear proliferation by these rogue 
nations. That is why we passed strong sanctions against Iran and why we 
support all options to protect our friends.
  We stood in support of Israel's continuous support of the safety and 
security of the people of the United States. When we were attacked by 
terrorists, Israel stood by us and continues to stand by us, and they 
take personal risks in doing so. We stood to show our gratitude to the 
people of Israel.
  Now, like any relationship, ours is not perfect nor without differing 
thoughts and opinions. To be sure, there are times when we honestly 
disagree. That is the nature of governments elected by the people. 
There will be debate, but we must use these as opportunities to learn 
from each other, to reaffirm our promises, and to grow. All of that 
strengthens our bonds because we put respect, true resolution and a 
commitment to peace above all else.
  Mr. Friedman would do well to understand the true issues behind our 
support. We are jointly committed to peace, to a two-state solution, to 
fighting terrorism, to supporting the tolerance of other religions, to 
supporting democracy, to standing up against those who would rain 
thousands of rockets on an innocent people.
  We will not be silent. We will speak out against terrorism, and we 
will stand together.
  So, for all of these things, I and others stood in respect, in 
support, and in an open show of our joint commitment to peace and 
civility.
  And together we will stand again.

                          ____________________