[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2096-2097]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU'S INVITATION TO SPEAK TO A JOINT SESSION OF 
                                CONGRESS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from

[[Page 2097]]

Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, the scheduled March 3 invitation by 
Speaker Boehner to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak to a joint 
session of Congress is wrong on many levels.
  It is a deliberate attempt by the Israeli Prime Minister and the 
Speaker of the House to undercut an effort at a diplomatic solution to 
stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. This is calculated to occur at 
a very sensitive stage in talks to reach a potential agreement to limit 
Iran's nuclear ambitions. Undercutting that diplomatic option is wrong 
for the United States. It undermines our efforts to smooth choppy 
waters at a time when we are deeply concerned with ISIS, Hezbollah, 
Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. The potential of being able to work with Iran 
beyond the nuclear weapons issue is important for trying to manage many 
of the world's most explosive problems.
  It is impossible to fully comprehend the next steps if we undercut 
this diplomatic effort. Why give Iran an excuse to blame the United 
States for a failure of negotiations and play to their hard-liners, who 
don't want any agreement that would contain their efforts to build 
nuclear weapons?
  There are no other good alternatives. Some of the people most eager 
to ultimately use military force against Iran are the same people who 
were so enthusiastic about going to war with Iraq. The fallout of the 
war with Iran would likely be as bad or worse at a time of upheaval in 
this troubled region.
  There are other critical issues besides the negotiations with Iran. 
It is outrageous to think that Israel or any country would use Congress 
as a prop for their highly contested domestic elections. This proposed 
speech would be right in the middle of a short and heated Israeli 
election. It is unseemly and counterproductive. One has only to look at 
Netanyahu's television commercials from his last election--and how he 
used his appearance before Congress--to see where this is going.
  Finally, there is the issue of respect for the Office of the 
President and the responsibility to conduct foreign policy. I can't 
imagine what the reaction would have been if Speaker Nancy Pelosi had 
offered French President Sarkozy an opportunity to lecture Republicans 
and George Bush about our disastrous policy in Iraq. Republicans would 
have been apoplectic.
  This is not good for Israel either. It is creating a backlash at home 
for Netanyahu. It is creating heartburn for some of the strongest 
supporters of Israel in Congress, and it is straining the relationship 
between the administration and the Government of Israel. This drama is 
coming at a time when the majority of Israelis think their country is 
headed in the wrong direction, when Netanyahu does not have the 
majority support of his countrymen, when the election is quite close, 
with a significant number of undecided voters; and polls tell us a 
majority of Israelis think this speech is a bad idea.
  It is unnecessary; it is unfortunate; and it is a bad precedent. 
Joint sessions involving heads of state and other world leaders should 
advance American interests and be a positive expression of our values 
and our opportunities, not a partisan or an ideological device. This 
proposed speech fails that test. The invitation should be withdrawn or 
rescheduled, or the Israeli Prime Minister, himself, should reconsider. 
I, for one, have no intention of being part of dignifying this blatant 
political act with my presence, because it is not good for Congress; it 
is not good for Israel; and it is not good for the United States.

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