[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6803]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 SUPPORT PASSAGE OF HOUSE RESOLUTION 244, EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT A PALESTINIAN GOVERNMENT WHICH INCLUDES 
 HAMAS MUST BE PROHIBITED FROM RECEIVING UNITED STATES AID UNTIL THAT 
         GOVERNMENT PUBLICLY COMMITS TO THE QUARTET PRINCIPLES

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 5, 2011

  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my strong 
support for House Resolution 244, expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives that a Palestinian government which includes Hamas must 
be prohibited from receiving United States aid until that government 
publicly commits to the Quartet principles. The Quartet--the United 
States, the European Union, the United Nations, and the Russian 
Federation, require Hamas to recognize Israel's right to exist, to 
renounce violence, and to accept previous Israeli-Palestinian 
agreements.
  Last week on April 27, 2011, Fatah and Hamas initialed a document of 
understandings as a foundation for a ``Palestinian National Accord'' 
agreement, which was signed by all of the Palestinian factions on May 
4th in Cairo, under the aegis of the Egyptian transitional government 
and with the presence of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas 
and Hamas Political Bureau head Khaled Mash'al.
  That same night on Al-Jazeera TV, Foreign Minister of the Hamas Gaza 
Government, and a member of the Hamas delegation to the Cairo 
discussions, Mahmoud Al-Zahhar said: ``We believe that negotiations 
with the Israeli enemy are in vain . . . . It will be impossible for an 
interim government to take part in the peace process with Israel.''
  Mr. Speaker, we should also be troubled by the announcement by a lead 
Fatah negotiator that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam 
Fayyad, who has been a leader in developing the Palestinian economy in 
the West Bank as well as a primary peace negotiator with Israel, will 
not be a part of the interim unity government.
  Hamas embraces violence against innocent women, children, and men and 
calls for the destruction of Israel in its charter. It has been a 
designated terrorist organization by the United States since 1995 and 
by the European Union since 2003. Hamas terrorists have murdered 
hundreds of innocent Israelis, kidnapped and refused Red Cross access 
to Israeli soldiers, smuggled Iranian arms into the Gaza Strip, and 
launched thousands of rockets and mortars into Israel, including more 
than 300 since the beginning of 2011.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and 
reaffirm the notions that a Palestinian government which includes 
Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, must be prohibited from 
receiving U.S. aid. The legislation further acknowledges that the 
United States House of Representatives has a deep interest in achieving 
a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the creation 
of a viable and independent Palestinian state living in peace alongside 
the State of Israel.

                          ____________________