On the recordJanuary 5, 2017
I rise as a cosponsor of the bipartisan H. Res. 11. In 2002, during the Second Intifada, after the massacre in Hebron, I had the great, good fortune of meeting in Jerusalem with Shimon Peres, of blessed memory. He explained why a two-state solution is the only path to peace, and I will never abandon his dream of a two-state solution. U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, however, pushes the hope of a two-state solution farther away for three reasons: One, it discourages direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. Two, it fails to distinguish between ``long accepted'' and ``more controversial'' settlements. ``Long accepted'' settlements, such as the long established Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, in the Jewish Quarter, places like the Western Wall, and the ``consensus'' settlements versus ``more controversial'' hilltop settlements in the West Bank, such as Amona, settlements that even the Israeli Supreme Court has declared illegal. Three, it fails to explicitly condemn the number one impediment to a two-state solution: anti-Israel terrorism.
