2002 Ron Paul 33:1
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, this legislation
could not have come at a worse time in the
ongoing Middle East crisis. Just when we
have seen some positive signs that the two
sides may return to negotiations toward a
peaceful settlement, Congress has jumped
into the fray on one side of the conflict. I do
not believe that this body wishes to de-rail the
slight progress that seems to have come from
the Administration’s more even-handed approach
over the past several days. So why is
it that we are here today ready to pass legislation
that clearly and openly favors one side in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?
2002 Ron Paul 33:2
There are many troubling aspects to this
legislation. The legislation says that “the number
of Israelis killed during that time [since
September 2000] by suicide terrorist attacks
alone, on a basis proportional to the United
States population, is approximately 9,000,
three times the number killed in the terrorist
attacks on New York and Washington on September
11, 2001.” This kind of numbers game
with the innocent dead strikes me as terribly
disrespectful and completely unhelpful.
2002 Ron Paul 33:3
It is, when speaking of the dead, the onesidedness
of this bill that is so unfortunate.
How is it that the side that loses seven people
to every one on the other side is portrayed as
the sole aggressor and condemned as terrorist?
This is only made worse by the fact
that Palestinian deaths are seen in the Arab
world as being American-inspired, as it is our
weapons that are being used against them.
This bill just reinforces negative perceptions of
the United States in that part of the world.
What might be the consequences of this? I
think we need to stop and think about that for
a while. We in this body have a Constitutional
responsibility to protect the national security of
the United States. This one-sided intervention
in a far-off war has the potential to do great
harm to our national security.
2002 Ron Paul 33:4
Perhaps this is why the Administration views
this legislation as “not a very helpful approach”
to the situation in the Middle East. In
my view, it is bad enough that we are intervening
at all in this conflict, but this legislation
strips any lingering notion that the United
States intends to be an honest broker. It
states clearly that the leadership of one side —
the Palestinians — is bad and supports terrorism
just at a time when this Administration
negotiates with both sides in an attempt to
bring peace to the region. Talk about undermining
the difficult efforts of the president and
the State Department. What incentive does
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat or his organization
have to return to the negotiating table
if we as “honest broker” make it clear that in
Congress’s eyes, the Palestinians are illegitimate
terrorists? Must we become so involved
in this far-off conflict that we are forced to
choose between Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon? The United States Congress
should not, Constitutionally, be in the
business of choosing who gets to lead which
foreign people.
2002 Ron Paul 33:5
Many people of various religious backgrounds
seem determined to portray what is
happening in the Middle East as some kind of
historic/religious struggle, where one side is
pre-ordained to triumph and destroy the other.
Even some in this body have embraced this
notion. Surely the religious component that
some interject into the conflict rouses emotions
and adds fuel to the fire. But this is dangerous
thinking. Far from a great holy war, the
Middle East conflict is largely about what most
wars are about: a struggle for land and resources
in a part of the world where both are
scarce. We must think and act rationally, with
this fact clearly in mind.
2002 Ron Paul 33:6
Just as with our interventionism in other
similar struggles around the world, our meddling
in the Middle East has unforeseen consequences.
Our favoritism of one side has led
to the hatred of America and Americans by
the other side. We are placing our country in
harm’s way with this approach. It is time to
step back and look at our policy in the Middle
East. After 24 years of the “peace process”
and some 300 million of our dollars, we are no
closer to peace than when President Carter
concluded the Camp David talks.
2002 Ron Paul 33:7
Mr. Speaker, any other policy that had so
utterly failed over such a long period of time
would likely come under close scrutiny here.
Why is it that when it comes to interventionism
in the Middle East conflict we continue down
this unproductive and very expensive road?
