Honoring the Life and Legacy of Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF FORMER LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER RAFIK HARIRI -- (House of Representatives - February 16, 2005)
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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding me time, and rise with my colleagues to support this resolution recognizing the life of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the terrorist bombing attack that occurred February 14, 2005, in Beirut, which took his life, killed so many others and wounded dozens and dozens of people.
Let me just say that Prime Minister Hariri, when he first took office in the early 1990s himself pledged to lead his country in what he called a quantum leap forward to resurrect it from the civil war that it had endured, a tragedy of over a decade. He said "I want to go down in the history books as the man who resurrected Beirut." And as a Member of this Congress who traveled to see part of that resurrection in Solidaire and the rebuilding of that war-torn country, it goes to show how one person's vision can literally transform a corner of the world.
When I think about our conversations with him, I would have to say he was a man who was very measured. He was someone who actually did not have to be doing what he was doing in the political realm because he was so financially wealthy. He did not need any of this. He did not have to give his life for the country he so deeply loved.
He founded the Hariri Foundation. Through that foundation he helped to support so many young people for their education, for their future, for health care, indeed all of the charitable works for which the Hariri Foundation has been responsible to pull the people of Lebanon forward.
The son of a grocer, someone with humble roots, he had an incredible career as a construction magnate in the Middle East. Really his power in the current Parliament in Lebanon was sufficient that he could have blocked actions by other leaders in that country, but he chose not to do so. He believed very much in peaceful evolution. He was the architect really of the rebirth of modern Lebanon.
I feel so sorry that this has happened, because truly he is someone who would not want to incite more violence in that very troubled part of our world. I understand that the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. LaHood) was down here a little bit earlier talking about the letter we signed to the Bush administration. It urges that in order to help to try to keep the calm in that region, to use our commodity programs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture more effectively, especially at this time, throughout that region, in order to turn food into development assistance. We should aim to keep the calm in a very tender and difficult moment in history.
I truly extend deepest sympathy and condolences to the family and to all the victims of this terrorist attack. I shall miss his counsel and his measured strength, as he came here to advise not just about Lebanon, but about many topics of concern to fair-minded people of the world.
I would hope that the world community would not be too quick to judge who is responsible for this murder. In fact there should be teams set up to actually investigate and to try to ascertain who might have been involved. Let us not be too quick to point fingers at who might have done this, because in fact Mr. Hariri himself would never have done that. He would have gotten to the bottom of any situation.
Again, I thank the gentleman for rising in support of this very important resolution to honor the life of former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Mr. Rafik Hariri.
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