[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12795-12800]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CHRISTIAN GENOCIDE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2013, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gohmert) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, it is my distinct honor to yield to a 
friend, a colleague, a guy I came in with in the class of 2004, my 
friend, Mr. Fortenberry.
  Mr. FORTENBERRY. I thank the gentleman from Texas, my good friend, 
Congressman Gohmert. I appreciate your yielding, and I appreciate your 
willingness to engage in the most important dialogues facing our Nation 
night after night. Thank you again for allowing me to intrude a bit on 
your time.
  I wanted to raise something of the utmost urgency, Mr. Speaker.
  Mosul is Iraq's second largest city. For 1600 years, Mosul has been a 
center of Christian life, and, today, not a single Christian remains.
  Now, who could have imagined that 1 month ago--just a month ago--
large swaths of the country of Iraq would be invaded--conquered--by an 
army of religious fanatics who would fly a flag that is a black banner 
of death.
  After capturing Mosul, this group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq 
and Syria, commonly called ISIS, issued an ultimatum to the Christians 
who lived in this city. They said three things: you must depart; you 
must convert to Islam--or you will die by the sword.
  They did more than that.
  Mr. Speaker, they did this: this is the Arabic letter for ``N,'' and 
it is pronounced ``none.'' It is a symbol that stands for the word 
``Nazarene,'' which is a denigrating term used to describe Christians 
in the area by some. In their brutal campaign against Christians and 
other religious minorities, ISIS spray-painted this letter on the doors 
of the remaining Christians' homes, their businesses and their 
churches, except they didn't do it in gold. They did it in red--blood 
red.
  Leave, convert, or die.
  Mr. Speaker, Iraq's Christians have just as much right as anybody 
else to be there. That community has traditionally served--even in a 
minority status--as a leavening influence, oftentimes trying to build 
bridges where there were ethnic or religious tensions.
  People all around the world, fortunately, are recognizing the 
grotesque injustice that is happening. Even though we are busy here, 
debating all types of other concerns, nonetheless, in a land very, very 
far away, people are being told that they must leave their homes--their 
ancestral homelands--and go to who knows where or they will die.
  Fortunately, there is a movement that is now happening. Many people 
around the world are taking that red symbol of death that was painted 
on those Christians' homes, and they are turning it into this gold 
symbol of solidarity, saying that, if we are going to

[[Page 12796]]

find peace in the world--if we are ever at least going to find a bit of 
stability--we are going to have to come to some deeper awareness of 
understanding of the nature and dignity of all human persons and of 
that most sacred right of religious liberty: to be able to express 
one's faith tradition, particularly an ancient faith tradition which 
has existed in this area for 1600 years.

                              {time}  2045

  We must find a way to elevate that value. So, in the midst of this 
chaos, this horror, this grotesque injustice, there is a little bit of 
glimmering light, in that people all around the world are starting to 
use this symbol on Facebook and social media.
  Mr. Speaker, all I wanted to do tonight is say I stand with them in 
solidarity.
  Mr. GOHMERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend. I am immensely grateful 
to my friend, Mr. Fortenberry, for bringing this point home. It is a 
point that has been brought home repeatedly to me in different places 
in the world.
  In Afghanistan, where this country helped with a constitution that 
would be shari'a law-based, my country, my country, where Americans 
have fought and died for freedom, my country, where the most valuable 
commodity we have, human life, has been sacrificed on the altar of 
freedom because we believed where there was a threat like Afghanistan 
to us as Americans, we could repel the Taliban, and the world would 
benefit and certainly America would benefit, and Christians around the 
world would benefit, who were being so persecuted by the Taliban in 
control in Afghanistan.
  But we weren't alone. Moderate Muslims in Afghanistan were being 
persecuted. That is why there were plenty, there were plenty of groups 
willing to rise and fight with America, for America, against the 
radical Islamists of the Taliban.
  The moderate Muslims didn't want radical Islamists running their 
country. They were perfectly willing to allow Christians or Buddhists 
or secularists, Jews, to live and worship or not worship as they saw 
fit in their country.
  So the people that some in this administration call war criminals, 
the Northern Alliance, fought for us, and they defeated the Taliban in 
a matter of months.
  It was in October of 2001, a month or so after the worst attack on 
the United States in our history killed over 3,000 people here in our 
homeland. We finally figured out that planning and preparation occurred 
in Afghanistan.
  And there did have to be some diplomatic negotiations to get some of 
the tribes to be willing to fight together because they didn't like 
each other sufficiently, at least, to work together and be under each 
others' control and command.
  Diplomatically, there may have been some money that changed hands, we 
are told, to get one tribal leader to subjugate to another.
  General Dostum, legendary in the region, in the whole continent, for 
courage, led. We had less than 500, around 300 or so, embedded 
military, special ops guys, as well as intelligence. And within about 4 
or 5 months, the Taliban were totally routed, totally defeated.
  Then the administration, under the leadership of the State 
Department, decided the best thing for Afghanistan would be to have a 
stove-piped, centralized, top-heavy government, even though this was a 
regional, tribal country, had been for millennia.
  That was a mistake that was not the Obama administration's; that 
happened before President Obama took office.
  But, from those I talked with, they could see problems, and I 
believe, if there had been a President Bush clone he would have been 
willing to admit we needed a change.
  But the new President accepted Afghanistan, with its top-heavy 
government, where the President can appoint the governors, appoint the 
mayors, appoint the police chief, appoint the highest level teachers, 
appoint a slate of a big portion of the legislature. Incredible powers.
  If you were looking for a formula that would help you create 
corruption, we helped provide it to the Afghans. If you were looking 
for an environment that could be created that would encourage 
corruption, we helped provide it to the Afghans.
  Well, everybody makes mistakes. But the important thing is, after you 
have made them, recognize them and correct them.
  Instead, this administration came in and really doubled down and bet 
on the top-heavy, corrupt Karzai administration. As a result, 
synagogues really can't be found in Afghanistan. Christian churches--
you would be hard-pressed to find a church in Afghanistan, not that 
they are not there somewhere.
  But the Taliban, one of whose leaders has been on national television 
in Afghanistan, on behalf of the Taliban, citing shari'a law and, 
basically, announcing if you have been an opposing the Taliban, if you 
have not actually supported us, then everyone knows when the Americans 
leave, which will be this year, then we, the Taliban will be back in 
charge here in Afghanistan.
  So under shari'a law, you must come to us, admit your mistakes, ask 
forgiveness, and ask for our protection, swear allegiance to the 
Taliban. We will forgive you and we will provide you protection. But if 
you fail to do so, then you will be fodder for death.
  So, we have helped create a situation in Afghanistan, under this 
administration, where now, if you are not going to be a radical 
Islamist, your life is going to be miserable, which were the conditions 
in Afghanistan before we went in.
  We have set up a situation in Afghanistan that will be ripe for 
further Taliban development, further Taliban training, and planning for 
a more glorious 9/11 attack that can and would kill more Americans.
  And although that would most likely occur after this President leaves 
office, it would only be the mainstream media who would not recognize 
that it was this administration that made this possible.
  Yes, the Bush administration would have contributed some by the 
government so centralized that was set up. But all but the most deaf 
and blind to the mistakes of the current administration would say the 
Bush administration would have allowed it to get to this point in 
Afghanistan, where Christians and Jews have to fear for their lives, 
where moderate Muslims have to fear for their lives, and where those 
who fought for and with America will likely be killed.
  Now, knowing some of these people, Mr. Speaker, I can assure you they 
are not going to go down without a fight. So most likely, our 
President, here in the United States, by siding with the bullies, is 
likely to contribute to a massive, ugly, destructive civil war in 
Afghanistan.
  But it is one of the situations that has led our allies around the 
world to say, wait a minute. The Northern Alliance in Afghanistan 
fought for America. They fought for you. They defeated radical Islamic 
Taliban in Afghanistan. They were defeated. They were overrun.
  That last incredible battle where General Dostum--and I have talked 
with him personally about it in Afghanistan, how he knew that they 
couldn't send tanks up to this last fortification of the Taliban 
because they could get blown up and they would block the way up.
  He knew that he couldn't send massive numbers of infantry until, 
eventually, they prevailed because they are fighting uphill against 
artillery, rocket propelled grenades, and gunfire, and they wouldn't 
have a chance, no matter how many they sent.
  He felt the only chance was if they put the 1,000 fastest, most 
courageous, best horseback riders they had on horses and sent them 
uphill into this Taliban stronghold. And they did, and these 1,000 
courageous freedom fighters, Muslims who wanted freedom from these 
cruel, uncivilized, brutal beasts called the Taliban, they wanted them 
defeated, and they went after them.
  Riding as fast as they can, they head up the hill, rocket propelled 
grenades, artillery, gunfire coming their way, and they lost 30 percent 
of the 1,000 riders.

[[Page 12797]]

  They didn't slow down, they didn't stop, they didn't watch and see as 
someone fell. They knew their only chance of victory was to keep 
heading up that hill to the fortification. Around 700 got there and 
wiped out the Taliban, destroyed the last fortification, the last 
stronghold of the Taliban, and there was victory in Afghanistan.
  Now, all these years later, 12 years later, with an administration 
that keeps helping the bullies of the world and hurting those who are 
oppressed in the world, the Taliban is poised to take back over.
  Our allies are wondering, why did we trust you? Why did we fight with 
you?
  You said when we defeated the Taliban for you that we could trust 
you, we could give you our weapons because we had nothing to fear; the 
United States would always stand with us and make sure the Taliban 
would never take back over.
  Now, 12 years after we trusted you, we put our lives in your hands, 
we gave these weapons to you, you are turning your back on us in 
Afghanistan who fought for you and with you, lost family, lost limbs, 
fighting for you and with you, and now you are going to walk away and 
leave this country to fall back in the hands of the Taliban.
  We are not going to let it happen without a fight. But we can't 
believe you would do this to someone to whom you said, hey, trust us, 
you can trust us, and we did, and now the current administration is 
turning its back on us, calling us war criminals.

                              {time}  2100

  Other allies around the world see this, and they say, wow. You know, 
we can't say this to Secretary of State Kerry. We couldn't say it to 
Secretary of State Clinton. We couldn't say this to President Obama, 
but we can say this to you. We trust you, but we are wondering if we 
are going to be the next allies to be thrown under the bus.
  People around the world are saying--it seems to be pretty clear--you 
can't trust the United States, or you will pay with your life. That is 
not the America that gained the trust and respect around the world from 
everyone except the radical Islamists and some of the mainstream media.
  The America that became the most free, the most affluent nation in 
world history has also been the most generous nation in world history, 
and what we have done and given and lost on behalf of other people--not 
to create an empire, not to build an empire, not to force people to 
speak English and to follow American ways--but so they could be free to 
choose the way in which they should go.
  Countries historically have not done that, and we have, and now, that 
generous nature has been used by this administration until it has 
become a vice, a vice that would allow our allies to be killed, to be 
oppressed and persecuted because we are going to let the bullies take 
over.
  Not only did we watch and let bullies take over in other parts of the 
world, but we saw the Arab Spring that, in the not-so-distant future, 
would become a Christian and Jewish winter--a bleak, miserable winter 
for Jews and Christians and secularists.
  We demanded that the leader of Egypt be ousted--never mind that this 
administration had agreements with the Egyptian leader--the President. 
We turned our back on them--and how about after the Soviet Union fell 
and the United States, particularly the Clinton administration, as I 
understand it, were the ones that guaranteed Ukraine that if you will 
give up the nuclear weapons that you hold and allow us to provide them 
to Russia--we know you don't want to give these weapons to Russia, we 
know you don't trust the Russians, but you can trust us, the United 
States.
  President Clinton, as I understand it, worked this great deal with 
Ukraine: trust us, you can trust us--yes, let the Russians have the 
nuclear weapons that you possess, Ukraine; and we, the United States, 
will have your back, we will protect you. Russia wouldn't dare come 
against you because we will protect you. We will fight for you. We have 
got your back.
  What this administration has done with the Ukrainians' back is to put 
a knife in it.
  Well, you know, there were a lot of Russians in Crimea. Well, yes, 
there were. The Russians forced them in there and forced the Ukrainians 
out at one time. Gee, what a great way to claim this land is yours, by 
forcing the people out of there.
  If you want to talk about earlier possession being the right to 
currently possess, you are going to be hard-pressed to find any Muslim 
that was a practicing Muslim 1,000 years before Christ, although you 
will find the Jews under King David, and you would find King David in 
the first 7 years of his reign in Hebron, leading Israel from Hebron.
  This administration wants to say: oh, that is not Israel's land--the 
people that came along and worshiped Mohammed 1,600 years after King 
David ruled in this land, they are the ones that should have the land.
  Really--that is this administration's position--seriously? What about 
the prophecies in the Old Testament that, in the mountains of Sumeria, 
there would be fruit, there would be grapes, there would be fine wine?
  For decades, since Israel came back into the land, it was promised 
over 3,000 years ago. People are saying, well, you can't grow grapes 
there in those mountains. We don't know. The prophets really blew that 
one. You can't grow grapes in that area of Sumeria, except that I have 
been in that area of Sumeria where the prophet said that Israeli grapes 
would grow and provide great wine. I don't drink alcohol, but the 
grapes were amazing, and they are growing where the prophet said they 
would.
  So how could land that was in Israel's possession, that was 
prophesied would be lost by the children of Israel, but God would 
return them to the area, and there would be fine grapes and fruit grown 
in that area, how could that be somebody else's prior claim when they 
were longer there than anybody still, any tribes in existence today?
  Perhaps that is Israel's land, but not according to this 
administration. This administration is anxious to help those who are 
the most brutal in all of Israel.
  So even though we have gotten used to seeing this administration turn 
its back on an ally in Egypt in favor of a radical Islamist Muslim 
brother, Morsi, who was in charge--and who, by the way, sent his wife 
to have a baby in America, who could be brought up and taught to hate 
America, just like Alamoudi, who is doing over 20 years in prison for 
supporting terrorism. His wife came to America and had a baby. They 
have got an American citizen.
  Actually, it was rather interesting. I found out today that Osama bin 
Laden told his wife to come to America to have her baby. He wanted her 
to have an American citizen that they could raise up and teach to hate 
America who, because of their citizenship, would be able to come in and 
out. Fortunately, she ended up in Saudi Arabia, as I understand, before 
the child was born.
  These radical Islamists may be crazy, but they are not stupid. They 
know as long as we have open borders and welcome people who are 
pregnant that hate us, they can get in and have baby American citizens 
and take them back to their country and, over their life, teach them to 
hate America.
  I have talked about it for a number of years. There have been the 
naysayers, and at some point, they will wise up and see, wow, this has 
been happening for many years.
  Well, the same administration that has condemned Israel at different 
times for not being willing to step up and do what we told them to do, 
the same administration that has left the leader of Israel sitting, 
waiting for the President for long periods of time while he went and 
ate and yet chastised him, well, you stay here and think about it, like 
a child, and when you come to the agreement I told you to, basically 
then I will get back together with you.
  Like a child--really? We treat our allies like that?
  Well, Prime Minister Netanyahu should be thankful because the way

[[Page 12798]]

this administration treated the ally leader in Egypt was to have him 
destroyed--his position, get him out of office, out of power, subject 
him to torture by the locals.
  Look at the ally that this administration had in Libya. Qadhafi was 
not a good man, but he was scared so badly after we entered Iraq that 
he opened his doors: okay, guys--America, you tell me what I can keep, 
what I have to get rid of. I don't want you to invade me, so I would 
rather be your friend. You tell me what I can have in the way of 
weapons.
  He really and truly did give up whatever we told him to, and he 
became an ally. I have even met Qadhafi's son here at the Capitol 
before--while President Obama has been President. Apparently, he had 
meetings here in Washington with the administration, with people on 
Capitol Hill, and yet this administration not only turned on their ally 
that they had in Qadhafi--who had supposedly given up his terrorist-
supporting ways--and this administration supplied weapons into Libya to 
al Qaeda, to other rebels who were not al Qaeda, but to al Qaeda, to 
al-Shari'a, to other radical Islamists to take out Qadhafi.
  Some have contended, if we had not gone in and bombed Qadhafi's 
caravan as he was trying to get away, they would not have caught him, 
and he would have gotten out, so it would appear that the United States 
contributed mightily to the torturous death of Qadhafi.
  I am not saying he didn't deserve a rough death after what he had 
done to so many, Mr. Speaker. I am just pointing out that this 
administration had made agreements and discussions with him as an ally, 
and they turned on him, threw him away--and not only that, but they 
helped bring about his personal death and destruction.
  When you deal with al Qaeda, when you deal with radical Islam, the 
Taliban, it is like handling a snake, a poisonous snake. Eventually, it 
will bite because it is a snake. That is what it does.
  Now, in areas where this administration helped rebels, being a 
Christian or a Jew is the quickest route to death. This administration, 
sadly, has helped contribute to situations in the world where there is 
now more terror if you are a Christian or a Jew than there has been in 
centuries.
  So I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I am a little bit surprised 
that as Hamas--who does get some of our money. Money is fungible, and 
we are sending it to the Palestinians, and every dime of it ought to be 
cut off as long as they have a relationship with Hamas; but yet, 
because we are sending money that is being used for textbooks and 
things like street signs that are named for people who have killed 
innocent Jews, Israelis, Christians, we are contributing to what they 
are doing.
  Then this administration, through the FAA, stuck a knife in Israel 
once again by having the administration, through the FAA, ban U.S. 
flights to and from Israel's main airport for a second day.
  As even CNN reported, ``The FAA's ban on U.S. flights to and from 
Israel's main airport for a second day marks another blow to that 
country's economy and a success for Hamas militants, experts said 
Wednesday.''

                              {time}  2115

  As one said, quoted in the CNN story:

       It is a big hit to the Israeli economy and to our pride, 
     the director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel said. 
     But he and other Israeli officials insisted their country's 
     sophisticated antimissile system makes Ben Gurion Airport a 
     safe place, even though a Hamas rocket from Gaza fell 1 mile 
     away from the airfield, prompting the FAA temporary ban on 
     U.S. flights.
       ``We knew about that rocket,'' said Israeli Government 
     spokesman Mark Regev. ``We were tracking it for about 3 
     minutes, our air force. We could have taken it down, but 
     because we saw that it wasn't going to hit inside the 
     airport, we let it through.''
       For some Americans, Gaza conflict strikes close to home. 
     The FAA ban marks something of a victory for Hamas--as well 
     as prudent decision to protect commercial airlines, one 
     expert said.
       But his quote included, ``What is the objective of 
     terrorists? To incite terror in people.''

  That was Tim Clemente, a retired FBI counterterrorism agent talking 
about Hamas.
  Clemente said:

       I think because they probably got lucky with this one 
     rocket that came close enough to Ben Gurion to make it seem 
     like the threat was legitimate.

  Well, the truth is, maybe Mr. Clemente didn't know the Israelis were 
tracking it. They could have shot it down, but there have been so many. 
What? A couple thousand of these rockets have been sent in the last 15 
days into Israel, they cannot afford to knock down ones that are not 
going to harm people or do damage, so they didn't take it down. They 
could see the trajectory. They knew where it was going to hit.
  Yet the Obama administration decides to inflict even more damage on 
Israel by harming them economically. Oh, we are lifting bans. We are 
working with Iran, even though Iran said they want to wipe out the 
Little Satan, Israel, and the Great Satan, the United States. They made 
it clear, and they have never, ever ceased to pursue that dream of 
wiping out Israel and the United States.
  Oh, we will give them some money. We will let them have proceeds, but 
when it comes to Israel, we are going to slap them around like a little 
kid again even though they have the sophisticated weaponry to knock 
down rockets and they let one go because it is not going to hurt 
anybody. This administration seizes on that to declare a ban on U.S. 
flights to and from Tel Aviv.

       Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, described the missile 
     landing near the airport as one victory in the ongoing war 
     between Hamas and Israel in Gaza. The resistance success in 
     stopping the air traffic and isolating Israel from the world 
     is a great victory for the resistance, Barhoum told Al-Aqsa 
     Television.

  Great victory for Hamas. Great victory for radical Islam. They have 
gotten the United States administration under President Obama to ban 
air traffic into Tel Aviv, so we are sticking a knife in our friend.
  It is not bad enough that Hamas is launching rockets nonstop into 
Israel, that they have made clear no matter how badly Israel wants a 
cease-fire, they are not going to stop the rockets, they are hoping 
they will kill innocent people because they have made clear before that 
to them, to these terrorists, they don't think there is an innocent 
child in all of Israel because ultimately they will be in the military, 
so they are doing the world a favor, they say, or they think, by 
killing every Israeli they can.
  And what does this administration do? It says let's help Hamas by 
sticking, taking a stab into the heart of Israel's economy.
  Here is an article from haaretz.com:

       Will the threat to Israel's only international airport be a 
     game-changer?
       Whether or not flights in and out of Israel are suspended 
     for any length of time, the suspension of flights by several 
     major air carriers is Hamas' first major achievement of this 
     conflict.

  Mr. Speaker, it is tragic that the United States is the one who gave 
Hamas, the radical Islamists, their first big victory. It wasn't Israel 
that gave them a victory. Israel has defended itself, and that is all 
they are doing.
  The article says:

       With a single rocket, which evaded the Iron Dome missile 
     defense system and exploded between two houses in the Tel 
     Aviv suburb of Yehud, Hamas might just have achieved what it 
     failed to do with nearly 2,000 rockets fired at Israel since 
     the beginning of this round of warfare 15 days ago.

  Again, Mr. Speaker, it should be clear that Israel tracked the 
missile, saw it wasn't going to hit anybody, and they let it go. It was 
not a mistake. It was something they saw would be harmless, and they 
let it go, the Israelis did.
  But the article says:

       The decision of the United States' Federal Aviation 
     Administration to advise the three U.S. carriers flying to 
     Israel, Delta, United, and US Airways, to suspend their 
     flights to Israel for 24 hours, could just be just a 
     temporary blip, another inconvenience caused by the current 
     security situation. If the suspension is extended 
     indefinitely, for as long as the rockets are flying, and if 
     it spreads to the airlines of other countries--a number of 
     European carriers have already followed suit

[[Page 12799]]

     and Korean Air suspended flights already last week--it would 
     create an intolerable situation for the government of Prime 
     Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

  Further in the article it says:

       The rocket falling on Yehud did not change that situation. 
     One factor that could have changed the FAA assessment was 
     probably the downing of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 
     over eastern Ukraine on Thursday, with the deaths of all 298 
     crew and passengers on board.
       Tens of thousands of Israelis planning to fly abroad, 
     tourists who were to leave, and those who were scheduled to 
     arrive here in the next few days will have had their plans 
     disrupted. The national carrier, El Al, however, will 
     continue to fly, and since there have been many cancellations 
     already, it will carry many of those who were set to fly on 
     foreign airlines.
       But the psychological effect on Israelis will be 
     significant, and this could have a longer term implication 
     for Israel's economy.

  The last time there was a wide-scale suspension of flights to Israel 
by foreign airlines was not in 2001 after 9/11 when there were 
continued threats against Israel or 2002 with continued threats against 
Israel or 2003 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 or 8. No. There were no flights 
suspended from the United States under the President George W. Bush 
administration, even though the threats at that time were probably more 
severe than now that they have such an effective Iron Dome. There were 
days before the effective Iron Dome that Israel was probably more at 
risk than they are with the Iron Dome, but Bush didn't call a 
suspension. But this administration has.

       The last time there was a wide-scale suspension of flights 
     to Israel by foreign airlines was in early 1991, when Iraqi 
     scud missiles were falling on Israel during the first gulf 
     war. Israelis then did not travel abroad as often as they do 
     now, and that conflict did not happen during the summer 
     vacation period. More significantly, the local economy was 
     not integrated into the global markets as it is today, with 
     hundreds of international companies having research centers 
     in the Israeli high-tech hubs and thousands of companies here 
     totally reliant on export markets. It took Israel's economy 
     many years to break down the reluctance of foreign 
     corporations to invest and work in Israel--a few days or a 
     couple of weeks with limited air travel probably won't change 
     that, but it may well create a temporary feeling of siege.
       This may prove to be a game-changer in a conflict which is 
     now entering its third week. It could provide further impetus 
     for the government in seeking a speedy cease-fire with Hamas, 
     but that seems doubtful.
       It is much more likely that, faced with the prospect of 
     more rockets cutting off Israel off from the international 
     air routes, the government will be inclined to order a much 
     more devastating blow, a wider ground operation to occupy the 
     rocket-launching sites or even directed at Hamas' underground 
     headquarters, with dreadful implications for the people of 
     Gaza living above.

  And that will be the fault of this administration by failing to put 
pressure on Hamas but instead putting pressure on the more reasonable 
people who have just tried to defend themselves and have made clear if 
you stop the rockets, we stop attacking.
  All we are seeking is peace. Hamas holds the peace in its own hands, 
and with that hand, it keeps trying to murder Israelis. And then you 
end up having discussions in mainstream media--not that hardly anybody 
is watching. But on CNN when one commentator asked another, I think it 
was Wolf Blitzer, in effect, gee, these Hamas, they don't have near the 
weapons that Israel has, so are you seeing any let-up of Israel since 
they clearly have more fighting power than Hamas?
  I am sorry. That is just really a stupid question. If somebody is 
coming at you with a rock with the intent to murder you and you have a 
gun, are you supposed to stand aside and say: Yeah, beat me as long as 
you want to until you kill me. I can't use a gun because it is more 
powerful than your rock?
  Of course not. You can use self-defense when someone has murderous 
intent.
  Israel does have the ability to go in and clean out the weapons in 
Gaza. I have pointed out to Prime Minister Netanyahu and other leaders 
of Israel that going back to the very inception of Israel--the very 
inception--before there was a king, even before there were judges, 
there has never been a time in Israel's history when Israel gave away 
its land trying to buy peace. Not only did they not get peace, that 
land they gave away was used as a staging area from which to attack it. 
Southern Lebanon and Gaza Strip are just more modern examples.
  Mr. Speaker, I didn't understand until I went to Israel for the first 
time why in the world Israel would be willing to give away more land. 
But when you are there, you see it among the people. They were tired of 
suicide bombers, and they were tired of rockets. Look, if you will just 
leave us alone, we will give you land. But hopefully Israel has learned 
a lesson that even though you are tired of the rockets, you are as 
tired of the destruction from Hamas and from radical Islamists as you 
were from the PLO, you can't buy peace by giving away your country, not 
part of it, not all of it.
  As long as you exist, they will want to kill you, eradicate you, and 
wipe you out. They have said they will create a worse holocaust than 
World War II, and I think they are quite serious.
  What this administration ought to do for the good of mankind is to 
recognize that in Hamas are some of the most heinous war crimes in 
current days because Hamas is willing to take schoolchildren, the sick, 
the afflicted, and families and put weapons in their homes, their 
schools, and their hospitals, hiding them under, hiding them in, and 
then when Israel defends itself by taking out the weapons, they get to 
claim: Oh, gee, look. You killed innocent civilians. Shame on you.
  The Hamas leaders ought to be tried for war crimes, convicted and 
killed.

                              {time}  2130

  They ought to be put to death in a war crimes system of justice for 
using children and innocent people as shields. And this administration 
ought to be leading the cry against Hamas' exposure of its children and 
its people. But unfortunately, because some of the American money we 
have spent is capable of being used to fund schoolbooks that teach the 
children to hate Israelis and hate Americans, hate Jews, hate 
Christians, you actually have families that say sure, you want to hide 
your weapons in here, gee, if we are taken out by the Israelis, then we 
are martyred and we will be heroes. What kind of sick thinking have we 
contributed to in the region?
  It is time to cut off every dime that America is giving to the 
Palestinians, to Hamas, anybody working with Hamas, anybody having any 
relationship with Hamas. It is time to take President Bush's words that 
you are either with us or you are against us. If you are doing business 
with Hamas, if you are helping Hamas, if you are friendly with Hamas, 
then you are our enemy, and then we ought to enforce that.
  Israel is standing in defense not only of itself but of the United 
States of America because the radical Islamists represented in Hamas 
don't just want an end to Israel. Anyone who wants the destruction and 
end of Israel wants the destruction and the end of the United States of 
America, and it is time that somebody in this administration recognized 
that. I think there are military leaders that recognize that, and some 
day they are going to grow a pair and tell the President of the United 
States that he is helping the wrong side, and God bless him when they 
do.
  We even have Jewish self-loathers in this country and in the media--
which there have always been--who want to beat up and vilify Israel 
when the country just wants to defend itself. But we know this has 
happened as long as there have been the Jewish people. I mean, going 
back to World War II, there were actually Jews who went and identified 
where other Jews lived for the Germans. So is it any surprise that you 
would have some Jewish people, self-loathing Jews, who would ridicule 
Israel when it is just trying to defend itself?
  Here is another article, ``World suspension of Israel flights a 
`great victory': Hamas'':

       The success of Hamas in closing Israeli airspace is a great 
     victory for the resistance, and is the crown of Israel's 
     failure.

  That is Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Well, he should give credit 
to this administration. This administration is the one who gave it to 
him.

[[Page 12800]]

  And then here is an article from Reuters. Netanyahu asks Kerry to 
help resume flights to Israel. Well, good luck with that. As long as 
they think they are hurting Israel, they will probably keep it.
  Sure, the President has already got his Nobel Peace Prize, he got 
that before he really got started. But Secretary Kerry doesn't have his 
yet, and the only chance he will have of bringing any peace to the 
Middle East from his perspective is if you put pressure on the only 
reasonable group over there, and that is the Israelis, because they are 
the only ones that recognize that human life is valuable and we ought 
to try to save as much as we can. They have shown great restraint in 
the Gaza Strip. They shouldn't have to. We should clean it up for them.
  Another article by Andrew McCarthy, ``Palestinians Chose Hamas and 
the Mass Murder of Civilians, Including Their Own.'' He posted this 
July 22:

       Today, we are yet again being inundated with tales of 
     Palestinian woe after Hamas's familiar barbarism has provoked 
     an Israeli military response. It thus bears remembering that 
     the Palestinian people chose Hamas. Whatever happened to all 
     of those Democracy Project paeans to self-determination? 
     Hamas is Palestinian self-determination. Hamas was not forced 
     on Palestinians. Hamas did not militarily conquer Gaza. No, 
     Hamas swept parliamentary elections freely held in the 
     Palestinian territories in 2006--thrashing its rival, Fatah, 
     which is only marginally less committed to the destruction of 
     Israel.

  Anyway, Andrew McCarthy quotes from The Wall Street Journal:

       The people of Gaza overwhelmingly elected Hamas, a 
     terrorist outfit dedicated to the destruction of Israel as 
     their designated representatives. Almost instantly Hamas 
     began stockpiling weapons and using them against a more 
     powerful foe with a solid track record of retaliation. What 
     did Gazans think was going to happen? Surely they must have 
     understood on election night that their lives would now be 
     suspended in a state of utter chaos. Life expectancy would be 
     miserably low. Children would be without a future. Staying 
     alive would be a challenge, if staying alive even mattered 
     anymore. To make matters worse, Gazans sheltered terrorists 
     and their weapons in their homes, right beside ottoman sofas 
     and dirty diapers. When Israel warned them of impending 
     attacks, the inhabitants defiantly refused to leave.
       On some basic level you forfeit your right to be called 
     civilians when you freely elect members of a terrorist 
     organization as statesmen, invite them to dinner with blood 
     on their hands, and allow them to set up shop in your living 
     room as their base of operations. At that point you begin to 
     look a lot more like conscripted soldiers than innocent 
     civilians. And you have wittingly made yourself targets.
       It also calls your parenting skills into serious question. 
     In the U.S. if a parent is found to have locked his or her 
     child in a parked car on a summer day with the windows 
     closed, a social worker takes the children away from the 
     demonstrably unfit parent. In Gaza, parents who place their 
     children in the direct line of fire are rewarded with an 
     interview on MSNBC, where they can call Israel a genocidal 
     murderer.

  He says it is just a warmup for Jew hatred that pervades the 
Charter's Article 7, and then he quotes:

       Hamas is one of the links in the Chain of Jihad in the 
     confrontation with the Zionist invasion. It links up with the 
     setting out of Martyr Izz-a-din al-Qassam and his brothers in 
     the Muslim Brotherhood who fought the Holy War in 1936; it 
     further relates to another link of the Palestinian Jihad and 
     the Jihad and efforts of the Muslim Brothers during the 1948 
     war, and to the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brothers in 
     1968 and thereafter. But even if the links have become 
     distant from each other, and even if the obstacles erected by 
     those who revolved in the Zionist orbit, aiming at 
     obstructing the road before the Jihad fighters, have rendered 
     the pursuance of Jihad impossible, nevertheless, the Hamas 
     has been looking forward to implement Allah's promise, 
     whatever time it takes. The prophet, prayer and peace be upon 
     him, said: The time will not come until Muslims will fight 
     the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks 
     and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! there is a Jew hiding 
     behind me, come on and kill him. This will not apply to the 
     Gharqad, which is a Jewish tree.

  Anyway, Andrew McCarthy said:

       This is what Palestinians voted for. The highlighted 
     section of Article 7 comes straight from Islamic scripture, 
     from the authoritative Bukhari and Muslim collections of 
     hadith (the sayings and doings of the prophet Mohammed). It 
     foretells an eternal struggle until the end of time, when, 
     with Allah's intercession, the rocks and trees will help 
     Muslims battalions find and kill every remaining Jew.

  Mr. Speaker, this is a dangerous time. Prime Minister Netanyahu seeks 
the help of his former ally, the United States, not the stabbing in the 
back by the ally, the United States. I have asked my office to try to 
set up an appointment with Prime Minister Netanyahu if he would see me 
this weekend. I know the Sabbath is coming up, but I would find a 
commercial way to fly in there because I believe in the Israeli people 
and their ability to keep me safe despite the efforts of the United 
States in consoling their enemy.
  Just as my friend Dana Rohrabacher came to me several years ago and 
said, look, the U.S. State Department is saying we cannot go into 
northern Iraq, the Kurdish area, for more than just maybe a meal 
because if we do, they won't protect us. They say it is too dangerous. 
Well, it was the safest area in Iraq, and the Kurdish people were 
begging for our help. Well, we went in. We were protected 3 days, and I 
know and I would put my life in the hands of the Israelis. I trust them 
and I wish the rest of the United States would trust them despite this 
administration.
  With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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