Shelley Berkley: “I thank Mr. Lantos for his leadership on this and so many other issues. I rise tonight in strong support of H. Res. 575…”

“I thank Mr. Lantos for his leadership on this and so many other issues. I rise tonight in strong support of H. Res. 575, a resolution that expresses the sense of the House that Hamas should not be permitted to participate in Palestinian elections, and I urge its immediate passage. I would also like to thank my colleagues who helped author this resolution and move it expeditiously to the floor: Mr. Cantor, Mr. Menendez, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. McCaul, and Mr. Wexler. The goal of this resolution is to send a strong and unambiguous message to Abu Mazen that Hamas and the other terrorist groups should not be allowed to participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections. They should be prohibited from participating in the government and the Palestinian Authority should take affirmative steps to disarm and dismantle them. When Abu Mazen was elected, he pledged to root out terrorism and end corruption in the Palestinian Authority. To say he has not lived up to his pledge would be a decided understatement. I believe Yasser Arafat did a tremendous disservice to the Palestinian people; and I believe that if Abu Mazen does not step up soon, lead his people and do what he has promised to do, that he will also be doing a tremendous disservice to the Palestinian people. The very first step of the road map to peace is not only the denunciation of terrorism. That is the easy part. It is the dismantling and the disarming of the terrorist infrastructure and terrorist organizations.…”