[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6244]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                 ISRAEL

  Mr. CRUZ. Mr. President, every Member of this body has expressed our 
bipartisan commitment for the United States to stand resolutely with 
our friend and ally, the nation of Israel. Doing so is right, and it is 
overwhelmingly in the national security interests of the United States 
of America.
  It was therefore with great sadness that I read this morning about 
the comments of Secretary of State John Kerry, who reportedly suggested 
at the Trilateral Commission that Israel could become an apartheid 
state if his proposed two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian 
peace process fails.
  Secretary Kerry has long experience in foreign policy, and he 
understands that words matter. Apartheid is inextricably associated 
with one of the worst examples of state-sponsored discrimination in 
history--the apartheid system in South Africa that was ultimately 
brought down by the heroic resistance of Nelson Mandela inside the 
country, supported by a concerted campaign of diplomatic and economic 
sanctions by the international community.
  There is no place for this word in the context of the State of 
Israel. The term ``apartheid'' means apart, different, and isolated--
the state of the victims of apartheid with which the Jews are 
tragically all too familiar. The notion that Israel would go down that 
path--and so face the same condemnation that faced South Africa--is 
unconscionable. The United States should be aggressively asserting that 
Israel can never be made an apartheid nation while America exists and 
stands beside her because America will be with Israel regardless of the 
status of the diplomatic process.
  Fifteen months ago, almost to the day, John Kerry was confirmed by 
this body by a vote of 94 to 3. Despite my preference for giving the 
President the Cabinet members of his choice, I found that I could not 
join the vast majority of my colleagues and support his nomination 
because I was convinced that as Secretary of State, John Kerry would 
place what he considered to be the wishes of the international 
community above the national security interests of the United States.
  I fear that with these most recent ill-chosen remarks, Secretary 
Kerry has proven these concerns well founded. Rather than focusing on 
our clear national security interests--which is continuing to guarantee 
Israel's security through our unquestionable commitment to it--
Secretary Kerry has instead repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to 
countenance a world in which Israel is made a pariah because it will 
not sacrifice its security to his diplomatic initiatives; likewise, he 
has previously suggested that Israel might probably be subject to 
boycotts for the same grounds.
  It is no wonder Israel's Defense Minister remarked in January that 
``the only thing that can `save us' is for John Kerry to win a Nobel 
Prize and leave us in peace.''
  Indeed, my colleague, the senior Senator from Arizona, has suggested 
that the foreign policy carried out by Mr. Kerry is the equivalent of a 
``human wrecking ball.'' The fact that Secretary Kerry sees nothing 
wrong with making a statement comparing Israel's policy to the 
abhorrent apartheid policies of South Africa--and doing so on the eve 
of Holocaust Remembrance Day--demonstrates a shocking lack of 
sensitivity to the incendiary and damaging nature of his rhetoric.
  Sadly, it is my belief that Secretary Kerry has proven himself 
unsuitable for the position he holds and, therefore, before any further 
harm is done to our national security interests and to our critical 
alliance with the nation of Israel, that John Kerry should offer 
President Obama his resignation and the President should accept it.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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