Hezbollah's Attack on Israel

HEZBOLLAH'S ATTACK ON ISRAEL -- (House of Representatives - July 25, 2006)

(Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, those who equate Israel's recent actions with the same barbarism as those of Hezbollah are sorely misinformed. Hezbollah is a self-proclaimed terrorist organization whose motives are to destroy the very principles of freedom and democracy that Israel, not to mention the United States, promotes in the Middle East. Israel is the only democracy in the region, and the survival of Israel needs to be guaranteed.

It is regrettable that the fighting has escalated to the level it has, but Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has been bombarded continuously by hundreds of katyusha rockets on a daily basis for too long.

There is going to have to be European and international involvement and support to ensure that Hezbollah cannot reentrench itself in southern Lebanon next to the border of Israel, and it is time for Syria and Iran to act as responsible states and not as perpetrators and subsidizers of terrorism.

Of course, we all want peace in the Middle East, but let us not forget who started this and their motives.

I wish Secretary Rice the best in helping to bring a lasting peace to a highly intractable situation.

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