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Nadler Statement on Resolution to Deny Aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority

The House of Representatives today voiced its strong opposition to control of the Palestinian Authority by any party calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.


The House passed a resolution, S. Con. Res. 79, making it Congress’s position that “no United States assistance should be provided directly to the Palestinian Authority if any representative political party holding a majority of parliamentary seats within the Palestinian Authority maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel.”  The resolution is expected to pass this evening by a broad margin.

Congressman Nadler delivered the following statement in favor of the resolution:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to support S. Con. Res. 79, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that no United States assistance should be provided directly to the Palestinian Authority so long as the Hamas-led government maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel.

“In fact, I will go further and say that the United States should freeze all aid to the Palestinian government until Hamas denounces violence, renounces terrorism, and recognizes the State of Israel’s right to exist within secure borders.  Hamas’s mission is the destruction of the State of Israel, and its methods include wholesale violence against civilians.  To fund that regime is to legitimize terrorism against innocent people.

“Hamas has been responsible for more than 425 terrorist attacks since the start of the second Intifada in the fall of 2000.  These attacks have resulted in the deaths of 377 people, including approximately 27 Americans since 1993.

“With Hamas in the majority – an organization designated as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union – the Palestinian Authority is now led by a regime whose actions and covenant directly reject a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Hamas must publicly acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a free, Jewish state, denounce terrorism and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, halt anti-Israel incitement, and commit itself to the peace process.  The logical consequence of Hamas’s failure to follow these civilized principles must be a freeze on foreign aid from the international community.

“Today, the Palestinian Authority receives approximately $1.1 billion a year in foreign aid.  According to a report prepared by the Congressional Research Service, the Palestinian Authority receives about $320 million a year in direct foreign aid, and about double that amount in indirect aid.

“I am concerned that the international community may not be united in its opposition to Hamas.  There is already disagreement within the Quartet, with President Putin declaring that Russia will not stop foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority.  I have already written President Putin to urge him not to fund Hamas, and I hope he will reconsider his decision.  But the problem goes beyond Russia.

“Arab nations, many of them purported friends of the United States, have openly declared that they will step in and fund the Hamas-led government.  Saudi Arabia and Qatar have already pledged $33 million.  Several countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, and Bolivia, have invited Hamas officials to visit with their governments.  The international community must neither fund, nor legitimize Hamas.

“Therefore, I am circulating a letter to President Bush urging him to build an international consensus to withhold foreign aid as a way to isolate the Hamas-led government until Hamas denounces violence, renounces terrorism, and recognizes the State of Israel’s right to exist within secure borders.  Many Members of Congress have joined me in this effort, and I hope with this action by Congress today, more Members will join our efforts.”

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