Debbie Dingell: “our efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East have a major part of their foundation in the accords of Camp David. Part…”

“our efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East have a major part of their foundation in the accords of Camp David. Part of those accords were that we would provide a certain level of military assistance to our friends in Egypt. They and the Israelis are the friends that we have in that area. This amendment puts the finger of the Congress of the United States in the eye of our friends in Egypt. We have commitments made to them. Those commitments will be broken by this amendment. Now, to go further, what do these accords do? They give the Egyptians, in addition to all things else, the required strength to come in to assist us, the U.N., and the Israelis in providing the necessary security at Gaza when Gaza is relinquished by Premier Sharon. The result of that will be that if we do not see that Egypt has sufficient funding, they may either choose not to or may be incapable of moving in to control the terrorists and other organizations which are sinister threats not only to Israel, to the United States, but to the peace in the area. This amendment is therefore extremely counterproductive to the purposes of this Nation and to the commitments which we have made. Beyond that, it poses a real threat to the security of Israel and the security of the area. Fancy, if my colleagues please, another Afghanistan directly on the borders of Israel full of terrorists, full of extremists, full of people who bring danger not just to world peace, but to Israel.”