March 11, 1999 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE 4179 SENATE—Thursday, March 11, 1999 The Senate met at 12 noon and was Under the order, there will be 45 min- agreed to cede land and political au- called to order by the President pro utes for debate on the resolution with thority to the Palestinians. It is the tempore [Mr. THURMOND]. time controlled by Senators most important and fundamental Pal- BROWNBACK and WELLSTONE. estinian commitment, and it PRAYER At the conclusion of the debate time, undergirds the entire peace process. The Chaplain, Dr. Lloyd John the Senate will resume consideration And yet it is this very principle that Ogilvie, offered the following prayer: of S. 280, the education flexibility bill, Chairman Arafat now threatens to Almighty God, like the signers of the with the time until 2 p.m. equally di- abandon. Over the past several months Declaration of Independence, we pledge vided between the chairman and the he has repeatedly threatened to unilat- to You and to our Nation our lives, our ranking member. erally declare a Palestinian state over fortunes, and our sacred honor. We con- At 2 p.m., under a previous order, the the entire West Bank and the Gaza fess that it is a lot easier for us to say Senate will proceed to a stacked series Strip, with the eastern part of Jeru- that than for the 56 men who placed of rollcall votes. The first vote will be salem as its capital. their signatures on that historic liber- on adoption of Senate Concurrent Res- Mr. President, this issue touches the ating document. We reflect thought- olution 5, to be followed by votes on core of the Israel-Palestinian conflict fully that few were long to survive. amendments pending to the Ed-Flex as the question of the permanent sta- Five were captured, tortured, and later bill. The final vote in the sequence will tus of the Palestinian entity. What will died. Twelve had their homes ran- be on the passage of the bill. be its final borders? Will there be lim- sacked, looted, occupied by enemy sol- Following the stacked series of votes, its on its sovereignty? Will it be al- diers, or burned. Two lost sons in the it may be the leader’s intention to lowed to have a military, to possess Army. One had two sons captured. Nine begin consideration of Calendar No. 16, jets and tanks and missiles, to enter died of hardships. Thomas McKean of S. 257, a bill regarding the deployment into foreign alliances with the likes of Delaware was so harassed that he had of a missile defense system. Iraq or Iran or Libya? All these ques- to move his family five times and yet I thank my colleagues for their at- tions need to be bilaterally negotiated served in Congress without pay, his tention. between Israel and the Palestinians so family living in poverty and hiding. f that Israel’s security can be assured. Thomas Nelson, Jr. of Virginia com- You can just imagine what happens CONGRESSIONAL OPPOSITION TO mitted his own estate to pay back the day after a unilateral declaration. THE UNILATERAL DECLARATION loans of the Government for $2 million Palestinian security forces begin pa- OF A PALESTINIAN STATE and was never paid back. And we re- trolling an area that they now consider member John Hancock’s courage was The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. FITZ- part of an independent state but that is as large in commitment of his funds as GERALD). The clerk will report the part of the area that Israel has had se- his signature was on the Declaration. pending business. curity control over. Israel would un- Father, remind us that freedom is The bill clerk read as follows: doubtedly have to take steps to provide not free. May we do our work today A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 5) ex- for the safety of its citizens. Tension with profound gratitude, but it is You pressing congressional opposition to the uni- will mount quickly, leading inevi- we give the praise. Thank You for lateral declaration of a Palestinian state and tably—and rapidly—to a quick descent women and men in every period of our urging the President to assert clearly United into violence and bloodshed. States opposition to such a unilateral dec- And consider for a moment what the history who really had to give up their laration of statehood. lives, offer up their fortunes, and keep Palestinians have already achieved in their sacred honor with costly patriot- The Senate proceeded to consider the the peace process. Five years ago at ism. God, bless America with women concurrent resolution. this time, not one Palestinian living in and men like that today and start with Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I the Gaza Strip or on the West Bank each of us now. In Your holy name. yield myself such time as I may con- lived under Palestinian civilian au- Amen. sume. Under the previous order, I be- thority. Today, 98 percent have their lieve there are 45 minutes equally di- own executive branch, democratically- f vided between myself and Mr. elected legislature, and courts. They RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING WELLSTONE on this debate. have their own educational system, MAJORITY LEADER At the very start of the Oslo peace their own broadcasting authority, their process between Israel and the Pal- own airport, their own travel docu- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The estinians, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat ments, their own flag and anthem. able acting majority leader is recog- wrote a letter to then Israeli Prime They have full control over virtually nized. Minister Yitzhak Rabin in which he the entire Gaza Strip and ten percent f stated this: ‘‘The PLO commits itself of the West Bank, including all major THE CHAPLAIN’S PRAYER to the Middle East peace process, and population centers, and civilian au- to a peaceful resolution of the conflict thority over another seventeen per- Mr. BROWNBACK. What a beautiful between the two sides, and declares cent. And that is even before the start prayer and beautiful way to start the that all outstanding issues relating to of final status negotiations. There has day. permanent status will be resolved been much progress. f through negotiations.’’ That letter was So why does Arafat make such a dated September 9, 1993, and it led to threat? Why jeopardize the entire SCHEDULE the ceremony on the White House lawn peace process? On May 4, the five-year Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, 4 days later that publicly launched the period that began with the signing of today the Senate will begin consider- peace process. the first agreement between Israel and ation of Senate Concurrent Resolution Indeed, it was on the basis of the the Palestinians ends. It had been 5, a concurrent resolution relating to words that Chairman Arafat wrote that hoped that by that point all final sta- congressional opposition to the unilat- Israel agreed to enter into the negotia- tus negotiations would have been com- eral declaration of a Palestinian state. tions. It was on that basis that Israel pleted. But it should be noted that ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate jul 14 2003 11:49 Sep 28, 2004 Jkt 069102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR99\S11MR9.000 S11MR9 4180 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE March 11, 1999 none of the agreements signed between We should not pay Mr. Arafat for not record is very weak. I think the Presi- Israel and the Palestinians—Oslo I, doing something which he should not dent is trying to do the right thing in Oslo II, the agreement on redeploy- have threatened to do in the first the Mideast. I went, in part, because I ment in the city of Hebron, and the place. We should have only one mes- thought this was a commitment that Wye River Accord were negotiated by sage: To make a unilateral declaration the President was living up to, which the hoped for date. Still, the nego- of statehood is wrong, we will not rec- he had made, regarding the Wye River tiators stuck to it until agreements ognize it, and we urge you not to go agreement. were hammered out. That is exactly forward with it, but instead to return It was a very moving trip. I thought what should occur now. The peace to the process that has gotten us this it was especially significant. I am con- process is much too important to be far to date—the peace process. That is vinced that the historians will write held hostage to an arbitrary date. the only course which holds a promise about what happened in Gaza when the Some say that Arafat will back down of meeting the legitimate aspirations Palestinian National Council went on and not carry out this threat, or that of the Palestinian people while pro- record voting to revoke that part of he will postpone the date. I certainly viding the people of Israel what they their charter that called for the de- hope that is right. But listen to these have yearned for in the past 50 years: struction of Israel. That can only be a words of his closest associate which peace with security. step forward. It was very moving to be were spoken as recently as February Mr. President, we have a number of there when that vote took place. I just 22, less than 3 weeks ago. He said, speakers on our side, and I know Sen- think that it raised the benchmark in We .