June 25, 1992 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 16497 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS U.S. POLICY TOW ARD THE MIDDLE Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. An historically the Peace Process. Let me comment briefly EAST unprecedented coalition responded forcefully on where we stand in this process. and successfully in reversing that aggression In the bilateral negotiations, the parties and in preventing Iraq from threatening or have resolved many procedural questions and HON. LEE H. HAMILTON coercing its neighbors. have begun to put substantive issues on the OF INDIANA In partnership with Russia, we have been table. Israel and the Arabs, including the IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES able to bring Israel and all her immediate Palestinians, are all engaging on the basic issues of land, peace and security which form Thursday, June 25, 1992 Arab neighbors-Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestinians-together, for the first time the nexus of these negotiations. Mr. HAMILTON. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ever in an historic peace process, to nego­ Israel and the Palestinians are focussing bring to the attention of my colleagues a tiate a comprehensive settlement of their directly on the central issue of interim self­ speech Edward P. Djerejian, Assistant Sec­ long-standing disputes in direct, face-to-face government arrangements for the Occupied retary of State for Near East and South Asian negotiations based on UNSC Resolutions 242 Territories as a first, transitional step along the path to a permanent settlement of their Affairs, delivered June 2, 1992 to the Meridian and 338. Further, the United Nations has taken an dispute, which will be resolved in final status House in Washington, DC. increasingly active and positive role in en­ negotiations. This speech provides a useful survey of forcing the principles of its charter. Just While major gaps remain between the re­ United States policy goals with respect to the this weekend, we have seen the U.N. Secu­ spective positions of the parties, the Arab-Israeli peace process and Persian Gulf rity Council enact Chapter Seven sanctions bilaterals between Israel and Syria, Lebanon security and stability and states United States against Serbia and Montenegro following-in and Jordan have begun down the path of seri­ support for human rights, pluralism, women's Secretary Baker's words-the "humanitarian ous negotiations aimed at defining possible and minority rights, and popular participation nightmare" in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where areas of agreement and at narrowing dif­ many people, including Muslims, have been ferences, through compromise, where dis­ in government, and our rejection of extremism, agreement persists. oppression, and terrorism. brutally victimized by the continued war­ fare. And besides its many resolutions on This is the essence of the art of negotia­ In this regard, Assistant Secretary Djerejian Iraq, the Security Council has shown it will tion, and it is the essence of the negotiating speaks to the issue of Islam and the West and not tolerate Libya's use of terrorism. In the process upon which the parties first em­ states: Near East and Maghreb, the United Nation's barked, seven months ago in Madrid. The United States Government does not activities extend from the Iraq and the Iraq/ Another major accomplishment has been view Islam as the next "ism" confronting Kuwait border to the Western Sahara. the beginning of the multilateral phase of the West or threatening world peace. That is And within the ancient lands of the Near the peace process. As a result of closely co­ an over-simplistiC response to a complex re­ East, the rapid and fundamental change evi­ ordinated planning by the United States and ality . Simply stated, religion is not a dent elsewhere is also pressing people to see Russia, thirty-six countries, including eleven determinant-positive or negative-in the their own futures in a new light, and to re­ Arab states, gathered in Moscow in January nature or quality of our relations with other evaluate their relationships with other na­ to organize working groups on issues of re­ countries. Our quarrel is with extremism, tions, with their neighbors and with each gional concern, such as Economic Develop­ and the violence, denial, intolerance, intimi­ other in a particularly challenging manner. ment, the Environment, Refugees, Water Re­ sources, and Arms Control and Regional Se­ dation, coercion, and terror which too often U.S. GOALS IN THE NEAR EAST accompany it. curity. In mid-May, these working groups Amidst these changes, basic United States held their initial meetings in various cap­ Assistant Secretary Djerejian's thoughtful re­ foreign policy objectives remain consistent itals around the world. Follow-on meetings marks follow: and clear. Two major goals stand out: First, will convene later this year. THE UNITED STATES AND THE MIDDLE EAST IN we seek a just, lasting and comprehensive I just returned from Lisbon, where the A CHANGING WORLD: DIVERSITY, INTER­ peace between Israel and all her neighbors, multilateral steering committee met on May ACTION AND COMMON ASPIRATIONS including the Palestinians; and second, we 27th to coordinate the work of these working (Address by Edward P. Djerejian) seek viable security arrangements which groups. I can report that we had a successful will assure stability and unimpeded commer­ THE CONTEXT and productive meeting. The reports from cial access to the vast oil reserves of the the five working groups demonstrated again For over four decades the central char­ Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf. that all parties are approaching the issues acteristic of international relations was the These are not new goals, of course. We seriously and pragmatically, and we dichotomy between the Soviet Empire of dic­ have striven toward both for decades. What achieved agreement on the venues and time­ tatorial regimes and centrally-planned eco­ is new is the opportunity afforded us by re­ frame for the next round of working group nomics, and the Free World of democratic cent global and regional events to make real meetings to be held in the fall. These multi­ governments and market economies. Thus, progress toward achieving them. lateral talks support, rather than substitute the Cold War reverberated around the globe, Arab/Israeli Peace Process for, the bilateral negotiations, and we hope affecting virtually everyone, everywhere. that those bilateral parties who have so far Much of America's foreign policy, and that The first of these goals-the search for peace between Arabs and Israelis-has chal­ refrained from participating will join all of many ofther free nations, was either driv­ these important talks as soon as possible. en by, or a derivative of, our collective ef­ lenged every U.S. administration in the last four decades. In the Middle East, where war President Bush and Secretary Baker have forts to contain Soviet aggression and expan­ committed the United States to play the role sion. has at times seemed endemic, the road to achieving lasting peace through negotiation of an honest broker, a catalyst and a driving Today, East/West competition and conflict force to assure the continued progress of the over the future of Europe and the Third now stretches before us. And the first his­ toric steps forward have been taken. peace process in all its dimensions. We look World has been transformed. In the former forward with real hope to the continued dedi­ Soviet Union, new leaders are striving for We knew last autumn, before the first ne­ peaceful, democratic change as the only ef­ gotiations began in Madrid, that the path we cation and commitment to peace evinced had embarked on would not be an easy one. thus far by the regional parties and the fective road to sustainable economic and so­ international community. cial progress. Partnership has replaced con­ Fundamental and bitterly contested dif­ flict. A new mode of international coopera­ ferences separate the parties to the conflict. Gulf Security and Stability tion, which Secretary Baker has called "col­ Nevertheless, there have now been five A second major aspect of our Middle East lective engagement," is replacing the acri­ rounds of direct, bilateral talks between Is­ policy is our shared interest in the security monious competition of the Cold War. raelis and Arabs, and a sixth round is being and stability of the Persian Gulf. We all This sea change in world politics has had a planned for a venue closer to the region­ know that the countries of the Arabian Pe­ profound effect in the Near East: namely, Rome. In addition, we have worked ninsula are located in a dangerous neighbor­ An early example of the new "collective closely with our Russian partners in this en­ hood, and confront risks to their sovereignty engagement" was the response to Saddam deavor to launch the multilateral phase of and independence. Stability in the Gulf is •This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. Matter set in this typeface indicates words inserted or appended, rather than spoken, by a Member of the House on the floor. 16498 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS June 251 1992 vital, not only to our own national interest From our view, the normalization of rela­ Uncertainty regarding this renewed Is­ but also to the economic security of the tions with Iran depends on several factors, lamic emphasis abounds. Some say that it is whole World. particularly an end to support for terrorism. causing a widening gap between Western val­ Arabian Peninsula Iran's role in the freeing of American hos­ ues and those of the Muslim world. It is im­ In February, I visited the countries which tages held in Lebanon was an important portant to assess this phenomenon carefully, are members of the Gulf Cooperation Coun­ step.