David Price: “I will be voting for H. Con. Res. 426 to express support for the resolution of Arab-Israeli differences by peaceful…”

“I will be voting for H. Con. Res. 426 to express support for the resolution of Arab-Israeli differences by peaceful negotiation and to condemn the violence that has engulfed the region. In doing so, I am mindful of the special relationship our country has and must maintain with our ally, Israel, and of the heroic efforts of our President to bring about a cease-fire and to restart negotiations. I also commend Prime Minister Barak for the pathbreaking proposals he put forward during the negotiations at Camp David. It is now even clearer than it was then how unfortunate, indeed tragic, it is that the parties were not able to refine and build upon those proposals to achieve final agreement. The resolution before us, however, falls considerably short of the kind of expression that might best contribute to stopping the violence and resuming negotiations. I therefore support it with great ambivalence. Some have suggested that the tone and content of this resolution is justified by the one-sidedness of the anti-Israeli resolutions adopted at the United Nations. I disagree. This House should not be primarily reactive, nor should we see our main purpose as the affixing of blame. We should not second-guess the difficult decision the administration took, to abstain from using its veto in the Security Council in order to maintain its leverage in bringing the conflicting parties together.”