Date: 2011-05-26
Speaker: STEVE KING (republican)
Chamber: H

Theres no price you can put on a dear friend like that. Thank you. I would like to continue on in this discussion about the Presidents speech. Im not quite sure what the President had in mind when he decided to rush over to the State Department and make a speech. when he knew the Prime Minister of our dear ally. Israel. was traveling to come to the United States. He knew that when he gave the speech that the Prime Minister would be at a great disadvantage. It was a speech. as I understand it. that wasnt run by the Prime Minister. was quite a surprise to him. and. in fact. when there were hints that the President might make the statements he did. there was a pleading not to do so. I dont know if those are stories or. actually. how it occurred. Thats no way to carry on international relations. Its certainly no way to treat our friends. Its not hard to understand that when it comes to international relations. if you treat your enemies better than you treat your friends. then your friends will desire to be your enemies. and you will get what you desire. I dont know what the people in the White House are thinking. this is a friend. You dont do this to friends. So he jumps out and goes to the State Department where he has got a captive audience. Well. I say captive. apparently from whats on statements that have been made. the president of the Islamic Society of North America. which is a listed coconspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial for funding Hamas. a terrorist organization. this president of the listed coconspirator of funding. or in the Holy Land Foundation trial for funding Hamas. made comments about the speech because he had been invited to be in the inner sanctum of our State Department by this administration. This administration. this President. chose to make a speech. basically slapping a friend in the face. and at the same time invite the president of a listed coconspirator for funding terrorism to be in attendance so he could talk about how wonderful the speech was. The same Imam Majid. the president of the Islamic Society of North America that we find from reading the transcript of the speech that the number two person in the National Security Administration. the deputy National Security Adviser. said this spring. as he addressed the All Dulles Area Muslim Society. which they like to call ADAMS. for short. he thanked Imam Majid. the president. this listed coconspirator. for his remarks and also to talk about how wonderful his prayer was at the White House Iftar celebration last year. which is the celebration in Islam that marks the end of the fasting of Ramadan. And in the remarks. the deputy National Security Adviser of the United States commented on the President noting that this was really a continuation of the Iftar celebration that Thomas Jefferson had. once again. marking that the President is not getting good information about our Nations history. There are not 57 States. we are not. as the President said. producing more oil now than we ever have. You dont have to go back that far. We were producing 9.6 million billion barrels a day. and now we are producing 5.5. Do the math. if somebody will be honest enough to give the President the right information. He says we never had more people on the border than we do right now. Somebody show the history of 1916 when a Presidentwho I dont have a great deal of admiration for. Woodrow Wilsonknew that it was wrong to have a Mexican bandit. or a bandit group led by Pancho Villa come into the United States and be responsible for killing a handful of American citizens. That was enough to motivate the President at that time to call up something new called the National Guard and to send General Pershing down there with over 10.000 troops to go into Mexico. root out the troublemakersmany were killed even though he didnt catch Pancho Villa. but the murders stopped. The intrusions into the United States across our sovereign border stopped. The 100.000plus National Guard troops that were placed on our border in 1916 made sure that the intrusions stopped. And by General Pershing going in. they made sure that they were not going to want to come try that again. Thats how you deal with domestic or foreign terrorism. You cant try to love people and you can love your enemies and in Christianity we are taught to do that. And as individual Christians. thats what we are supposed to do. But when we take an oath to defend this Constitution. when we have the responsibility of an oath to defend this Nation. to provide for the common defense. then it is incumbent upon us to provide for the common defense. and we have a different standard for which we have to answer. So. yes. Christians are supposed to love one another. But the governments responsibility. as noted in Romans 13. is. as the scripture tells. someone tempted to do evil. If you do evil. be afraid. because God does not give the government the sword in vain. We have a responsibility to provide for a free society and a safe society where people will be free to love each other and to make free choices. And. yes. when there is a religion that has been hijacked by radicals that says you give people freedom of choice. thats wrong. we need to have a caliphate. We need to have a religious leader that tells everybody what they can do. That way we avoid all the debauchery that you can see on any evening news in America. The trouble is. God gave us freedom of choice. We can choose well or we can choose poorly. and the government ought to ensure. any government ought to ensure that people have that opportunity to do that as well. So. after the Presidents speech. which basically amounted to a slap in the face of the leader of our friend. Israel. after the inaccurate representation by the White House that. gee. this is where all the talks have always started. well. not exactly. That was the point to which the Clinton administration pushed Prime Minister Barak. when he was the Prime Minister of Israel and. who knows. God knows. I think God hardened Arafats heart so that when the Clinton administration had pushed Prime Minister Barak. what I think was far too far. which would have made Israel indefensible by any conventional means when Arafat had basically everything that he wanted. except the extinction of Israel. Arafats heart was hardened and he said. no. I am not entering the deal. thank goodness for Israel. So Israel remained a defensible Nation. Now. when the White House. when the President tried to walk back his comments and explainand as someone besides me has said before. when you hear someone say what I said was. it normally means that it isnt what they said. Its them trying to get a better twist than actually was the words that were said. But in the Presidents speech. where he tried to massage the words that he had given on Thursday. the Presidents word. and I have got a transcript of his speech here. President Obama said. "The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states. with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel. Jordan. and Egypt. and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine." He goes on and says. "The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves and reach their potential in a sovereign and contiguous state." So this is the Presidents speech after he has been chastised by so many in his own party and so many across America who apparently are better friends to Israel than our President. He has had time to think about it. to pour over and make sure he doesnt make a mistake of saying something this time that he doesnt mean. So if we want to give the President the benefit of the doubt that he made mistakes on what he said Thursday. then lets look at what he said this past weekend. and that should be what he really meant because he had time to massage the words he said. I think it is helpful to look at a map of Israel right now. This is the West Bank where Palestinians are located. but its under the control. ultimately. of Israel right now. This was originally Israels territory after 1967. This down here is the Sinai Peninsula where Egypt is now. After Israel was attacked unprovoked. Israel defended itself and took the Sinai Peninsula. took over the West Bank. took over Jerusalem. and took over the Golan Heights up here. And that was a defensible state. But Israeland I didnt really understand it fully until I went to Israel for the first time. I couldnt understand. Why do you guys not get it. that when you unilaterally give away land trying to buy peace. you lose the land and you provide a staging area from which you are ultimately attacked again? But once I had been in Israel and I saw locations of families and friends being blown up by suicide bombers. saw the location of children and families that were killed. terrorized by rockets. now about 12.000 of them. I understood a little better. They are so tired of being terrorized and losing friends and family that theyre willing to say. Look. well give you this area up here in Lebanon that we were able to control after the 67 war when you attacked us. we will give it back to you if youll just leave us alone. Patrick Henry said. People cry. peace. peace. but there is no peace. Israel wanted peace. so they gave away northern Israel. whats now colored as part of Lebanon. And so it wasnt but a few years ago Lebanon starts attacking. comes across the border. takes hostages. attacks Israel from the very area which Lebanon had been given in Israels unilateral quest for peace. Now. during the times before they controlled the Golan Heights. this area is quite high. It overlooks the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River. And it was real easy to just lob artillery shells from the Golan Heights into Israel. terrorizing farmers and killing. It was indefensible. So by the grace of God. after they were attacked. they took the Golan Heights. and they still hold them. And it is an area that by holding they can avoid having cheap mortars that are a lot cheaper than rockets just being lobbed over into their settled areas. their civilized areas. killing and terrorizing all the more. The West Bankmy hats go off to Prime Minister Fayyad for the efforts he has made in trying to bring up the West Bank and the Palestinian areas. I was critical because Palestinians have received billions of dollars. and yet they have not been building homes for the rankandfile refugees. which seems to indicate to me they wanted to keep fomenting hatred toward the Jews. toward the Israelis. Now lets take the Presidents words that he had time to massage. He learned from his mistake on Thursday. supposedly. He says that it should result in two states with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel. Jordan. and Egypt. Well. youve got the Gaza Strip that Israel unilaterally gave back. and now they have suffered thousands and thousands of rockets. terrorism. and death as a result of that generous gift of the Gaza Strip back. If youll just leave us alone. well give you this wonderful strip. They gave it back. People cried peace. peace. but there was no peace. There is no peace now. Theyre still readyif youll just leave us aloneto make peace. But under the Presidents words. gee. he uses the statement. in a sovereign contiguous state. Well. Palestinians have the Gaza Strip and they are occupying the West Bank. For that to be contiguous. theres only one of two things that can happen. and that is. if you cut Israel up. or you give all of this area to the Palestinians that are now completely in signed agreement with a terrorist group. Hamas. then you give all of this for the use of a terrorist group. Hamas. And so then that would fulfill the Presidents desire as he had time to massage it and think about it. giving all of this land to Hamas. Palestinians. all of this area up here. Well. but wait a minute. He said that after he described the borders that we would demand for the Palestinians. he said they would have a border with Egypt and with Jordan. comes clear up here. and that Israel would have permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. Well. he described the borders he wanted for the Palestinians. So his massage words. it seems. would mean that for Israel to only have borders with the Palestinians. you also have to give Palestine up here into Lebanon so that you have this little area. this little strip left for Israel. because thats what the President said. After he had days to think about his mistake on Thursday. this is the best that he can do? Were going to give Israel a little strip? And. by the way. can you imagine if Canada or Russia or China. one of their leaders. made a speech and said. United States. by the way. we think you ought to give away Arizona? You know. youve got drug smugglers up there. it would be a lot safer. You basically let them have it anyway. Why dont you just give it to the drug smugglers? Can you imagine that? Well. thats the interdiction of a meddling President. He is trying to tell another sovereign state where they can have their borders and where they cant. That is not what you do to a friend. And I know that were winding down to the minutes. and I know that some people have been taught or miseducated about our history. Well. we are not going to be in session here on June 6. June 6 is the anniversary of Dday. when we lost thousands and thousands of Americans who were trying to retake a beachhead in Europe and eliminate the horrible force that was taking away freedoms and killing 6 million Jews. And so to conclude tonight. Mr. Speaker. I want to read a prayer. Since we are not going to be in session on June 6. I want to read the prayer that Franklin Delano Roosevelt read live on national radio on June 6. 1944. President Roosevelt said these words: "My fellow Americans. last night. when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome. I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our Allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so. in this poignant hour. I ask you to join with me in prayer." And then Roosevelts prayer begins: "Almighty God: Our sons. pride of our Nation. this day have set upon a mighty endeavor. a struggle to preserve our Republic. our religion. and our civilization. and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true. give strength to their arms. stoutness to their hearts. steadfastness in their faith. "They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed. but we shall return again and again. and we know that by Thy grace. and by the righteousness of our cause. our sons will triumph. They will be sore tried. by night and by day. without restuntil the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Mens souls will be shaken with the violences of war. "For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise. and tolerance and goodwill among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle. for their return to the haven of home. "Some will never return. Embrace these. Father. and receive them. Thy heroic servants. into Thy kingdom. And for us at homefathers. mothers. children. wives. sisters. and brothers of brave men overseas. whose thoughts and prayers are ever with themhelp us. Almighty God. to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. "Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great. I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day. and again when each day is spent. let words of prayer be on our lips. invoking Thy help to our efforts. "Give us strength. toostrength in our daily tasks. to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our Armed Forces. And let our hearts be stout. to wait out the long travail. to bear sorrows that may come. to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be. "And. 0 Lord. give us faith. Give us faith in Thee. faith in our sons. faith in each other. faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events. of temporal matters of but fleeting momentlet not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose. "With Thy blessing. we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogances. Lead us to the saving of our country. and with our sister nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peacea peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom. reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. "Thy will be done. Almighty God. Amen." The words of Franklin D. Roosevelt on Dday. June 6. 1944. Mr. Speaker. with that. I yield back the balance of my time.