Peter Deutsch: “I wish that this bill literally had tens of billions of dollars of more aid for peace in the Middle East, because I…”

“I wish that this bill literally had tens of billions of dollars of more aid for peace in the Middle East, because I think all of us know that, had there been a closure at the Camp David meeting, that we would have been asked to do that. I for one would have been ready to step up to the plate and vote and support that type of concept. But I stand in front of my colleagues today as someone who has been supporting legislation to actually cut back and eliminate all aid, both direct and indirect aid, to the Palestinian Authority. The reason that I have done that is, unfortunately, what we have seen over the last several weeks is either one of two situations. Either, one, Chairman Arafat has purposely, consciously chosen not to stop the violence, or the second is that he cannot stop the violence. Either one of those outcomes, either one of those explanations is reason enough to stop literally hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars funneling to the Palestinian Authority. I urge my colleagues, even in the short time that we have left, to support this legislation and add it as one of our final acts before the end of this Congress.”