William H. Frist: “over the recess last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.…”

“over the recess last week, I had the opportunity to travel to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt. Yesterday, I reported on the Israel leg of my fact-finding mission. Today I will continue briefly with that discussion of some of my observations of the West Bank. It was an invaluable experience. I and my entire group learned a tremendous amount about the Palestinian perspective. Following my meetings in Jerusalem, we made our way to Ramallah in the West Bank to meet with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority. As we drove toward the city, we could see from our windows that everyday life for Palestinians in the West Bank is, indeed, a struggle. We had to pass through multiple checkpoints, predominantly through the security barrier, the so-called fence, much of which is newly constructed. As I learned on my visit to the Middle East, the fence has been, in truth, very successful in preventing terrorist attacks, although it was quite remarkable that you had to stop and be checked out before passing this fence, which sometimes you had to cross multiple times. We could also see the toll the Intifada has taken on the lives of the Palestinian people. Streets were pockmarked, buildings were run down, and a pall hung over the landscape itself. It is clear the Palestinians need one thing; that is, hope--hope for the future, hope for a better life, hope for a more secure life. They need their economic services improved.…”