Joe Lieberman: “what I am saying here is that this process--for the first time since September 1993 I fear that the peace process in the…”

“what I am saying here is that this process--for the first time since September 1993 I fear that the peace process in the Middle East is unraveling. And that would be a terrible result for the people on both sides in the Middle East. The only way it can be brought back on track is for Chairman Arafat to take some unequivocal and strong actions to make clear that he is an enemy of terrorism. That will probably include arresting suspected terrorists. That will include a direct break of this embrace with Hamas. It will include a dedication to destroying the terrorist infrastructure that is part of Hamas. If that does not happen, the process will not go forward. Because the people of Israel--leave aside the Government--the people of Israel will not have the confidence to take it forward. Here our options are limited. The Secretary of State and her designees are there to try to bring some sense to the parties on both sides. But, insofar as we have options, it suffices to say that in the climate and the reality that has occurred, as Senator D'Amato has indicated, it seems to me there is very little chance that this Congress would appropriate any funds for the Palestinian Authority. It will make it difficult to renew the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act, which allowed the PLO, the Palestinian Authority, to have an office here in Washington which was closed in August because we didn't renew it.”