[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11] [House] [Pages 14574-14575] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SUPPORT ISRAEL IN THE WAR ON TERRORISM The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Reichert). Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Engel) is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, today I was proud to be one of the speakers outside the United Nations in New York at a huge rally in support of Israel. It was attended by tens of thousands of people and showed strong support for the people of Israel as they struggle against terrorism. I would hope that later on this week there will be a resolution on the House floor to once again show Congress' bipartisan support for Israel. Mr. Speaker, Israel's fight against terrorism is our fight. The war on terrorism is our war. It is everybody's war. We need to support Israel in this time of struggle. It makes no difference whether terrorists drop bombs on Haifa or send planes into the World Trade Center or blow up innocent commuters on their way to work in India or London or Madrid, or blow up people in hotels in Bali and other places. Terrorism is terrorism, and those of us who think that terrorism is only over there are certainly kidding themselves. Terrorism is everywhere, and the only way to stomp out terrorism is to show a resolve and to get the job done by defeating terrorists. That is precisely what Israel is trying to do. Let us remember who started this war. Israel pulled out of Lebanon 6 years ago, so there is no pretext of any occupation. There is no pretext of anything other than the fact that terrorists would like to destroy democratic societies such as Israel, and Israel remains the only democracy in the Middle East. These terrorists want to destroy the democratic way of life, not only in Israel, but in America and all other democracies of the world. That is why Israel's fight is the fight of all decent nations, including the United States of America. These terrorists want to destroy life. Israel is standing up to them and saying enough is enough. We should let Israel finish the job. Israel wants to knock out the terrorist group Hezbollah for good, so they can never return to south Lebanon and threaten Israel's communities from the south of Lebanon on the northern border with Israel. We should let them do that because the status quo is not acceptable. We have already heard words from the naysayers telling Israel to use restraint. Mr. Speaker, I don't believe that we can use restraint, or that Israel can use restraint, or that any country can use restraint towards terrorists that are out to kill them and us. We should let Israel finish the job. Let us remember how this started. The terrorists came down from Lebanon, raided Israel, went on Israeli territory, killed Israeli soldiers, captured a couple of them, took them across the border. That is how it started. Imagine if this had happened to us, if someone came from the Mexican border or the Canadian border, attacked U.S. soldiers on U.S. soil, killed some of them and then took them back over the border. Mr. Speaker, we would be just as outraged, and we would have every right to go after those terrorists. That is what Israel is going to do. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. It is fighting a proxy war for Iran and Syria. Iran and Syria lurk behind this. Iran and Syria are the biggest supporters of terrorism. A couple of years ago, this Congress passed and the President signed the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act. I wrote that act. I was the lead sponsor of that act, along with my good friend, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. That act slapped sanctions on Syria for the first time in history. President Bush has only implemented some of the sanctions in that act, and I call on the President to now implement all of the sanctions on the act. Now is the time. Now we have to show Syria and other countries that [[Page 14575]] support terrorists that we are resolved to defeat terrorism. I was very happy when the United States vetoed the one-sided resolution at the United Nations, once again condemning Israel, once again discrediting the United Nations. The United States needs to be steadfast in support, and this Congress needs to do so as well. So in conclusion, let me say I look forward to a resolution later on in this week. The United States needs to stand by its friend, Israel, and Israel needs to stand by its friend, the United States, and all peace-loving and democratic nations in the world ought to stand shoulder to shoulder firmly against terrorism. Because if terrorism is not contained in one area of the world, it surely will come to every other area of the world. ____________________