Frank Lautenberg: “The question my colleague from New York State raises is a very complex one. Because we want to continue a peace process.…”

“The question my colleague from New York State raises is a very complex one. Because we want to continue a peace process. I spent some time in Ireland. I visited in the north. We made investments in that society, in the northern section, so that people could elevate their standard of living and reduce some of the anger and the rage. And we continued. I was pleased to see, in the last couple of days, discussions taking place that include the Sinn Fein, with some Members of the Senate and so forth, to try to say, ``Stop the killing, stop the killing.'' I met with people in New Jersey, and we disagreed on the tactic that was being used, the violence in the North, to try to bring about the kind of equality that all of us like to see for our families and our friends. Thusly, I am reluctant to say just offhand that we ought to simply cut off the relationship. I have faith that the Palestinian people also want peace. I don't think that they, any more than anyone else, likes the prospect of a son or a daughter dying in a conflict. There are those madmen--we have them in our society; we saw it in Oklahoma--people who are part of our culture who do something that is so outrageous. We see it in violence around the country all too frequently. We just saw it in New Hampshire. I will say this, though, that I think the Senator confirms what I was talking about, and that is, we have to, as they say, tighten the screws.…”