[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 13480]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        SUPPORTING ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST HAMAS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed 
to S. Res. 526.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 526) supporting Israel's right to 
     defend itself against Hamas, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motions to reconsider be considered made 
and laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 526) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  (The resolution, with its preamble, is printed in today's Record 
under ``Submitted Resolutions.'')
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, this resolution is sponsored by me, the 
Republican leader, Senator Menendez, Senator Corker, and others.
  I want the record to reflect that Senator McConnell and I have talked 
about this personally and we have agreed, without any hesitation, about 
this legislation.
  I have always been a supporter of the United Nations my whole career.
  What I saw last week disgusted me. As the U.N. Human Rights Council 
in Geneva voted to adopt a resolution accusing Israel of human rights 
violations in the ongoing Gaza conflict, the resolution was so 
incredibly one-sided and anti-Israel biased that it makes zero--none--
mention of Hamas and the atrocities Hamas has committed by 
indiscriminately barraging Israel and using Palestinian civilians as 
human shields.
  Hamas perpetrated this conflict. They wantonly fire rockets, and they 
don't care where the rockets go. Hamas has fired almost 3,000 missiles 
during a 3-week conflict.
  In fact, the very day the U.N. Human Rights Council exonerated Hamas, 
it fired dozens of rockets into Israel the same day.
  These aren't firecrackers. These are very violent, powerful weapons. 
They have a number of rockets. It is estimated they have 10,000 of 
them.
  They have something called WS-1E. It is a Chinese rocket, but they 
got the blueprints--Iran did from the Chinese--and, of course, they 
shipped these surreptitiously into Gaza. They will travel some 30 miles 
and they carry about 40 pounds of explosives.
  They have another one called the Fajr-5. This is an Iranian rocket. 
It is the most prestigious weapon of Hamas.
  The Iranian Revolutionary Guard gave Hamas the technology to 
manufacture those. They carry a warhead of 400 pounds. They will travel 
about 55 miles. I repeat, these aren't firecrackers.
  They have another missile in their arsenal. It is called a Khaibar M-
302. It is a Syrian-made missile with a range of some 12 miles. They 
carry a 300-pound warhead and, of course, it goes far enough that they 
believe that with the Fajr and this one, Tel Aviv is within their 
sights.
  The one they have the most of is called the Qassam-1 manufactured in 
Gaza, with no guidance system, a 3-mile distance, and a 10-pound 
warhead; the Qassam-2 has 9-mile distance and a 20-pound warhead.
  They have something called a Grads. They have lots of weapons--lots 
of them--and they indiscriminately fire into Israel. These aren't 
grenade launchers; these are missiles, huge weapons. These rockets are 
professionally engineered from Iran, Syria, and other countries. They 
are smuggled into Gaza. They manufacture a few of their own, as I have 
indicated. These are serious weapons of war.
  Hamas also continues to try to construct and use its sophisticated 
tunnels into Israel, which as one Member of Hamas recently bragged, 
allow Hamas fighters to invade Israel and kill Israelis.
  Hamas's responsibility in the Gaza clash is a fact, but the U.N. 
Human Rights Council didn't make a single mention of this terrorist 
organization.
  How many of these nations, such as Venezuela, China, Vietnam, and 
other nations--I wonder how this organization feels about their human 
rights. How many of these nations which condemned Israel would allow 
their own citizens to suffer through endless rocket fire--endless 
rocket fire.
  I talked to one American doctor who goes to Israel, as he does often, 
and all night long there was one air raid siren after another. It has 
been going on there for weeks. This U.N. resolution that was passed 
does not mention a single word, nothing.
  What is Israel supposed to do?
  We all lament the loss of life. It is heartrending. But what else is 
Israel to do after rocket after rocket after rocket plunges into its 
territory.
  I met with a man today who owns an oil company, oil exploration. They 
do oil exploration in Nevada. It is called Noble Energy. They are the 
ones who helped develop gas and oil fields in Israel. This is 
relatively new, but they say there are rockets dropping all over.
  As I mentioned earlier this morning, Iron Dome doesn't protect all of 
Israel. They need more Iron Domes. Everyone, no matter what they are 
doing, they can be out in Gaza working in the oil fields and missiles 
are flying all over from Hamas.
  I condemn Hamas's terrorism. We should. Their terrorism is not only 
against Israel; it is against their own people. As I heard the 
Republican conservative columnist in the New York Times David Brooks 
say in the NewsHour--I am paraphrasing, but this is what he said: This 
is the first conflict I have known where the enemy says: Kill more of 
us.
  I join my friend the Republican leader in doing what other nations 
refuse to do: condemning the United Nations Human Rights Council's 
biased resolution. We in this resolution condemn Hamas. The countries 
that have voted for this are Venezuela, Cuba, China. I repeat, how 
would they like to look at their human rights violations?
  In this resolution, we as a country support in this conflict a 
lasting peace which can only be realized through the demilitarization 
of Gaza.
  They talked about tunnels. These are not tunnels; these are major 
operations costing millions of dollars to dig a hole in the ground.
  Why? To go into Israeli settlements and kill innocent people.
  In offering the resolution before the Senate we stand with Israel and 
its right to defend itself, its security, and most importantly its 
people.
  I said earlier I am disgusted--as someone who has been a supporter of 
the United Nations ever since I have been in government--and the United 
Nations better take a look at this organization. This is 
``disgusting''--I use it for the third time, as I mean it.

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