S188 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 8, 2009 

Sharla and I join all Montanans in 

sending our thoughts and prayers to 

these men and women as they complete 

their mission. 

As Montana’s only member of the 

Veterans Affairs Committee, I look forward to working to serve them as honored veterans when they all come 

home. 

I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. DURBIN). The clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

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SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL 

Mr. MENENDEZ. Mr. President, a 

few days ago, we all counted down the 

final seconds of 2008. In Israel they had 

something else to count all through 

last year. From January until December of 2008, a terrorist group launched 

more than 3,262 rockets and mortar 

shells into Israeli cities. These were deliberate acts of violence, provocation, 

and murder. The group responsible was 

Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization founded on one principal goal: destroying the state of Israel. Its charter 

says there is no value to international 

conferences, political initiatives, or 

dialogue. It says there is only one approach to the political situation in the 

Middle East, and that is jihad. 

So it was no surprise when the terrorist group Hamas staged an illegal 

coup against the forces of President 

Mahmoud Abbas, the legitimate President of the Palestinian people. It was 

no surprise that Hamas rejected Egyptian and Arabian calls for an extension 

of the cease-fire Egypt had negotiated. 

It was no surprise that when Israel 

voluntarily and unilaterally dismantled settlements and withdrew from 

Gaza in 2005 that Hamas saw this not 

as an opportunity to build peace but to 

instigate war, to continue to terrorize 

and kill Israelis in their places of worship, their schools, and their homes. 

Since that year, Hamas terrorists 

have used Gaza to fire more than 6,300 

mortars and rockets into Israel, reaching major cities, and pushing ever closer to the capital. 

No country would be expected to sit 

on its hands and simply allow its citizens to endure these kinds of vicious 

attacks without taking action to stop 

the responsible party. If I am sitting in 

New Jersey, and rockets are landing 

around my house, near my children, 

and near our schools, my No. 1 goal, 

my immediate goal, is to stop the rockets. So in December of 2008, Israel sent 

its military to Gaza to achieve a direct 

goal: stop the rockets. 

And now we all hope strongly that 

this goal can be achieved as quickly as 

possible. But we recognize it must be 

pursued if Israel is to have the sovereign right to protect itself and its 

citizens. Israel’s acts to stop the 

Hamas rocket attacks are a response to 

the daily risk of death faced by the 

900,000 Israeli citizens who live within 

rocket range. These innocent civilians 

have been forced to live constantly 

under the threat of mass casualties. No 

nation—no nation—should have to wait 

for the death toll to rise enough before 

it can act. No nation needs to wait 

until enough schoolchildren have fallen 

victim to a rocket attack before it 

stops rockets from falling on its cities. 

The launching of rockets and mortar 

fire is an invasion of Israel’s sovereign 

territory. It is no different from dropping bombs out of airplanes. It is no 

different from any other act of war. 

There is no question that Israel has a 

right and an obligation to defend its 

people. 

We mourn the loss of all innocent 

life, and the death of Palestinian civilians as a result of this conflict is tragic. There are a great many Palestinians 

in Gaza and the West Bank who completely reject the Hamas ideology. 

They want to live in peace and build 

the Palestinian state for themselves 

and for their children. They are, however, Hamas hostages. Hamas has hijacked Gaza, not to build a state in 

which you can live in peace and prosperity but to use it as a base to launch 

attacks against innocent civilians in 

Israel. 

Let us remember it was Hamas that 

chose to end the cease-fire, Hamas that 

chose to fire a continuous barrage of 

rockets. To date, it is Hamas that deliberately uses civilians as human 

shields and launches its attacks from 

heavily populated civilian areas, putting them at risk. It is Hamas that has 

spent its money on rockets rather than 

on food for the hungry. It is Hamas 

that would rather focus on the rhetoric 

that calls for the destruction of the 

State of Israel than on relief for its 

own people. 

Israel and the United States have 

proven their commitment to helping 

innocent civilians in Gaza. In stark 

contrast to the terrorist group of 

Hamas, Israel has taken significant 

steps to prevent civilian casualties. 

They give warnings of impending attacks, they drop leaflets, and make 

phone calls to targeted areas to warn 

the citizens they are in danger, even if 

that means losing the element of surprise and putting the lives of their own 

soldiers at risk. 

Israel and the United States have actively provided humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Since December 26, 10,000 

tons of humanitarian aid have been delivered to Gaza in coordination with 

Israel, the Palestinian Authority, 

international organizations, and various other donors. 

The United States Government, 

through the U.S. Agency for International Development, is continuing to 

deliver humanitarian supplies to the 

people of Gaza. The United States has 

provided medical and food supplies to 

health care facilities. We support the 

UN, the International Committee of 

the Red Cross, and other nongovernmental organizations as they continue 

their relief efforts. 

We all want peace in Gaza and hope 

it can come very soon. But peace cannot be achieved so long as Hamas continues its missile attacks. If a just and 

lasting cease-fire is to occur, it is incumbent upon Hamas to immediately 

and permanently halt all attacks 

against the Israeli people. 

I rise today to express unwavering 

commitment to the welfare, security, 

and survival of the state of Israel as a 

Jewish and democratic state. That is 

what the resolution before us affirms. 

As the resolution states, the ultimate 

goal of the United States is a ‘‘sustainable resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that will allow for a 

viable and independent Palestinian 

state, living side by side in peace and 

security with the State of Israel.’’ This 

will not be possible as long as Israeli 

civilians are under threat from rockets. As this resolution correctly lays 

out, Hamas must end the rocket and 

mortar attacks against Israel, recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and agree to accept previous 

agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. 

Today, the Senate must stand in support of the state of Israel, stand in support of its right to defend itself against 

terrorists, stand in support of its right 

to exist. Having said all of this, of 

course, we urge Israel as it defends its 

sovereignty and its people to use every 

option it can to limit the loss of innocent lives. So let us vote for a resolution that demonstrates our commitment to one of the strongest allies the 

United States of America has in the 

world, and let us do all we can to make 

it a peaceful 2009. 

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. 

TESTER.) The clerk will call the roll. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without 

objection, it is so ordered. 

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RECESS FOR JOINT SESSION OF 

THE TWO HOUSES 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under 

the previous order, the Senate stands 

in recess subject to the call of the 

Chair. 

Thereupon, the Senate, at 12:46 p.m., 

recessed subject to the call of the 

Chair, to reassemble in the Hall of the 

House of Representatives for a joint 

session, and at 2:30 p.m. reassembled in 

the Senate Chamber when called to 

order by the Presiding Officer (Mr. 

NELSON of Nebraska). 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican whip is recognized. 

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SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL 

Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I would like 

to speak to two subjects. The first 

deals with a resolution the Senate 

unanimously adopted this morning. 


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