Orrin Hatch: “I encourage all Senators to get on board with that bill. It is time to send messages that the U.N. will understand.…”

“I encourage all Senators to get on board with that bill. It is time to send messages that the U.N. will understand. Madam President, it appears the leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is going to request that the United Nations recognize Palestine as a member state. This action will create a major, unnecessary, and avoidable obstacle for peace. It is quite simply intolerable. For that reason, yesterday I, along with 15 of my colleagues, including my colleague and friend from Kentucky, the Republican leader, introduced S. 1595, the Solidarity with Israel Act. Should the United Nations recognize a Palestinian state, this legislation would terminate the U.S. funding for the U.N. I recognize that the consequences for recognizing a Palestinian state are severe, but they are appropriate. Recognition of a Palestinian state at this point would undermine the peace process, and some have even questioned its legality. It would be a deeply irresponsible action that brings into further doubt the legitimacy of the United Nations as a good-faith actor in securing a more peaceful, more free, and more democratic world. As I, and many of my colleagues have repeatedly stated on the floor of the Senate, the sole means to create a lasting and enduring peace between Israel and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations.…”