[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16271]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                CONGRESS AND ISRAEL MUST STAND TOGETHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, the United States and Israel share the 
same principles and values: fundamental ideas like freedom, democracy, 
respect for the rule of law, and human rights.
  Our nations also share, sadly, the same security concerns, like 
fighting terrorism and seeing stability in the Middle East, two issues 
that seemingly grow worse for the entire region day by day, but 
especially for Israel. Many of the recent tragic terror attacks and 
incidents of violence in Israel have been incited by both the 
Palestinian Authority and Hamas, with Abu Mazen openly inciting the 
violence himself.
  Tomorrow the Foreign Affairs Committee will mark up a resolution that 
I introduced alongside my south Florida colleague, Congressman Ted 
Deutch, which condemns the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement by 
Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority. When Israeli citizens cannot 
walk out of their homes to go safely to work or to go to the grocery 
store for fear of another terrorist attack, we must hold the 
Palestinian leadership accountable.
  Abu Mazen is also threatening Israel at the United Nations, where he 
seeks to delegitimize Israel and seeks unilateral Palestinian 
statehood. Just last month, Abu Mazen told the U.N. General Assembly 
that Palestinians would not abide by past agreements, proving, once 
again, that he is no partner for peace.
  This morning a maneuver was foiled at UNESCO when the P.A. attempted 
to include incendiary text in a resolution that claimed the Western 
Wall was part of a Muslim holy site; and, next week, Abu Mazen is 
scheduled to speak at a special meeting at the U.N. Human Rights 
Council.
  You have got to be kidding: Abu Mazen speaking at a Human Rights 
Council.
  President Obama must hold Abu Mazen accountable instead of continuing 
to give him a pass for his actions and show that actions have 
consequences.
  But these aren't the only challenges that Israel faces. In addition 
to the terror inside Israel, it remains surrounded by threats like 
ISIL, Iran, Syria, challenges that are shared by the United States.
  The Iran deal is riddled with loopholes, with ambiguities, and with 
outright dangerous provisions, including a sunset clause that paves the 
way for a nuclear-armed Iran in as little as 15 years--just bide the 
time. It also includes the lifting of the arms embargo against Iran and 
the lifting of sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program.
  In addition, the Iran deal releases billions of dollars that is 
allowing the regime to increase its terror financing and helps fulfill 
its destructive ambitions in the Middle East.
  For years, Congress, not the administration, has led the charge to 
push back against Iran and to sanction it through an effective 
sanctions program that constricts its energy, transportation, and 
financial sectors.
  It is now up to Congress to be proactive again, to get out in front 
of the Iranian deal, and to ensure that the administration holds Iran 
accountable and will not allow incremental cheating, because it is 
almost impossible to see this administration scuttling the deal for 
anything less than a major violation on Iran's part. We need to develop 
stronger sanctions against Iran for its illicit behavior and ensure 
that the administration fully enforces the sanctions on the books.
  While the U.N. resolutions implementing an arms embargo and 
restricting Iran's ballistic missile program are still in place, Iran 
is already testing our resolve. It is violating these resolutions. It 
test-fired a ballistic missile, and it continues to ship arms to Assad 
and Hezbollah to use against the people of Syria and against Israel.

                              {time}  1015

  Congress must move to enact additional sanctions against Iran, and we 
must designate and sanction Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the 
Quds Force, because they will be the big winners in this sanctions 
relief. We must target Hezbollah and Iran's other proxies because you 
can be sure that, with Hezbollah, it is only a matter of when, not if, 
it decides to attack Israel.
  We must ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself from 
Hezbollah and from other outside threats. With Iran providing Hezbollah 
with more advanced rockets and missiles, even with precision-guided 
systems, Israel is facing an enemy with almost 150,000 rockets pointed 
at every major city in Israel. Congress needs to get more funding to 
Israel for its David's Sling system, for its Iron Dome system; and we 
need to do it sooner, rather than later.
  Israel is an oasis of freedom in a desert of tyranny, a desert of 
terror and instability; and it is absolutely vital, Mr. Speaker, that 
Congress and Israel stand together to face these challenges united. The 
President won't do it. The Congress must.

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