Tom Lantos: “there have been many calls for the United States to be an honest broker. I share those calls. We have been an honest…”

“there have been many calls for the United States to be an honest broker. I share those calls. We have been an honest broker since President Carter brought the parties together at Camp David, but there were two willing parties. We can be an honest broker when both sides are eager to move towards peace, as President Sadat and Prime Minister Begin did. Arafat's latest contribution to this dialogue was to tell the Prime Minister of Israel to go to hell. It is difficult to be an honest broker under those circumstances. Under those circumstances, our job is to stand up with the only political democracy in the entire Middle East that has gone way beyond anything that anybody in this body thought would be offered the Palestinians and, as a reward, had a walkout by Arafat and the fermenting of an uprising. This resolution must be passed as the overwhelming voice of the conscience. We all grieve for every single person who lost his life. All lives are of equal value. But the cynical exploitation of little children who are sent into harm's way with financial rewards is not very impressive. It is the most cynical exploitation of the young who do not know any better. Peace has to come, but in order for peace to come, both parties must be willing to return to the negotiating table with good intentions and the determination that was present at Camp David.”