Encouraging the Expansion and Strengthening of the Abraham Accords to Urge Other Nations to Normalize Relations with Israel and Ensure That Existing Agreements Reap Tangible Security and Economic Benefits for the Citizens of Those Countries and All Peoples in the Region
Floor Speech
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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I will be voting to support H. Res. 311 today. We all support our ally Israel and recognize our long-standing alliance on Israel's 75th Anniversary. I cast my vote, however, with some misgivings.
There is nothing particularly problematic about this resolution, but there is a problem with what it does not say. I spent a week in Israel in February, and I saw first-hand the momentous crisis facing Israel--a crisis of democracy, a human rights crisis, and an international crisis.
Israel's democratic crisis, including deliberate attempts to undermine the Supreme Court and an independent judiciary, has brought hundreds of thousands of ordinary Israeli citizens to take to the streets in protest.
The human rights crisis includes the steady deterioration of the basic human rights of Arab Israelis and of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza brought about by deliberate decisions, policies, and actions by Israeli authorities.
As a result, there is mounting alarm, criticism, and condemnation of Israel in the international community by governments, NGOs, and civil society.
Mr. Speaker, this resolution ignores the reality on the ground.
This resolution ignores the damage that the current extremist government is accelerating inside Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza.
For the first time that I can remember, a resolution celebrating Israel's anniversary is being brought before the House without mention of congressional support for a two-state solution.
I honor Israel's remarkable history on its 75th Anniversary, but unlike this resolution, I cannot be deaf, blind, and mute to the current challenge to Israel's democracy, the suffering of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, the terrorism that continues to fester in the region, and the fragility of any remaining possibility for a negotiated two-state solution.
I urge my colleagues, regardless of how they might vote on this resolution, not to abandon a two-state solution and to work together in support of peace, human dignity, and democracy for Israel and the Palestinian people.
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