[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1075-E1076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E1075]]
REMARKS OF SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO THE AMERICAN ISRAEL
PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

______

HON. TOM LANTOS

of california

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is holding its annual policy
conference in Washington this week, and most of us will be receiving
visits this week from our constituents who are here for this important
yearly event.
Yesterday, Mr. Speaker, our Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice,
delivered the key address on behalf of the Administration to the AIPAC
conference. Secretary Rice articulated in a clear and elegant manner
the diverse and intense ties that bind the United States and our
democratic ally Israel. As Secretary Rice reaffirmed as she began her
speech, ``Israel has no greater friend and no stronger supporter than
the United States of America.''
The strength of our relationship with Israel has transcended
administrations and political parties. It was a critical and an intense
relationship from the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, when
President Harry Truman extended U.S. recognition to the Jewish state
only eleven minutes after its independence was proclaimed. This
relationship has continued through 57 years and eleven presidential
administrations of both parties. Israel continues to enjoy strong
bipartisan and bicameral support here in the Congress of the United
States.
Though Israel and the United States have had close ties for more than
half a century, conditions have changed, the world has changed, and our
relationship has changed with the times as well. Secretary Rice has put
American-Israeli ties in the framework of our ongoing fight against
terrorism and our increasingly globalized world. She has emphasized the
continuing importance of America's relationship with Israel to the
American people and its relevance to the Administration's effort to
foster democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law
throughout the Middle East.
Mr. Speaker, I ask that Secretary Rice's address be placed in the
Record, and I urge my colleagues to read and give attention to her
thoughtful remarks.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Remarks at the AIPAC Annual Policy
Conference May 23, 2005

Thank you very much. Let me begin by saying that Israel has
no greater friend and no stronger supporter than the United
States of America. For over half a century, AIPAC has
strengthened the religious, cultural and political bonds that
unite our two great nations, and I thank you for that.
The United States and Israel share much in common. We both
affirm the innate freedom and dignity of every human life,
not as prizes that people confer to one another, but as
divine gifts of the Almighty. As Thomas Jefferson once wrote,
``The God that gave us liberty and life gave them to us at
the same time.''
Moral clarity is an essential virtue in our world today and
for 60 years cynics and skeptics have proven that we have
been looking to false choices in the Middle East. They have
claimed that we must choose either freedom or stability,
either democracy or security. They have said that the United
States could either uphold its principles or advance its
policies.
But by trying to purchase stability at the price of
liberty, we achieved neither and we saw the result of that on
a fine September morning. That is why President Bush has
rejected 60 years of false choices in the Middle East. And as
he said last week at the International Republican Institute,
``The United States has a new policy, a strategy that
recognizes that the best way to defeat the ideology that uses
terror as a weapon is to spread freedom and democracy.''
The President holds the deep belief that all human beings
desire and deserve to live in liberty. This idea, of course,
did not immediately find favor. Many continued to defend the
false choices of the past. But we knew then and we know now
America's message is clear, our principles are sound and our
policies are right, and today the nations of the world are
finally joining with the United States to support the cause
of freedom.
We measure our success in the democratic revolutions that
have stunned the entire world: vibrant revolutions of rose
and orange and purple and tulip and cedar. The destiny of the
Middle East is bound up in this global expansion of freedom.
The days of thinking that this region was somehow immune to
democracy are over. Working with our G-8 partners, the United
States has created the Broader Middle East and North Africa
Initiative to build partnerships with people in the region
who are working for greater liberty.
The flagship of this bold new policy is the Forum for the
Future, an unprecedented international venue to amplify the
voices of reform that are redefining the region. Together, we
will tackle the urgent goals of the Forum: political
openness, economic liberty, educational opportunity and the
empowerment of women.
Today, nations all across the world are speaking a common
language of reform and they are helping citizens throughout
the broader Middle East to transform the parameters of debate
in their societies. The people of this region are expressing
ideas and taking actions that would have been unthinkable
only one year ago.
Some in the Arab media have even asked why the only real
democracies in the Middle East are found in the ``occupied
lands'' of Iraq and the Palestinian territories. What an
incredible thought. Today, citizens in the region are
demanding that their governments respond to this simple,
audacious question.
And many states will have to answer their people's call for
genuine reform. Jordan and Bahrain and Qatar and Morocco are
all taking steps to introduce greater openness into their
political systems. Egypt has amended its constitution with
electoral reform. And even Saudi Arabia has held multiple
elections. And just last week, remarkably, the Kuwaiti
legislature granted its women citizens the right to vote.
Kuwait's recognition that it must include all of its people
in political life is, hopefully, an example that its
neighbors will follow. In Lebanon, hundreds of thousands of
citizens have demanded an end to the foreign suffocation of
their country. With strong international support, led by the
United States and by France, and with an explicit mandate
from the United Nations Security Council, Syria has gotten
the message loud and clear that it is not welcome in Lebanon.
The Syrian regime has withdrawn its decades-long military
presence. And at the end of this month, the Lebanese people
will go to the polls and set a new course of action. But we
cannot rest. Syria must also remove its intelligence forces
and allow the Lebanese people to be free.
To be sure, a vital source of inspiration for all of these
reformers comes from the people of Iraq, who defied threats
of murder to vote in free elections in January. They declared
with one voice that the will of the people, not the whim of a
dictator, would determine Iraq's future. They declared with
that same voice that no Iraqi regime would ever again torture
its people, invade its neighbors, attack its neighbors and
offer financial incentives to Palestinian homicide bombers.
Today, Iraq has a transitional government that will soon
begin framing a new national constitution. Free nations
everywhere have rallied to Iraq's side. There is a coalition
of 30 countries helping the Iraqi people to defend themselves
from murderers and terrorists. NATO is training Iraq's army
officers, police forces and civilian administrators. And next
month, at the request of Iraq's new government, the United
States and the European Union will co-host an international
conference to build greater support for democracy, prosperity
and security.
Now, I speak to these reform efforts because the United
States looks to a future and has a vision of a day when
Israel is no longer the sole democracy in the Middle East.
This aspiration shapes the very heart of our approach to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well. For four years,
President Bush refused to meet with Yasser Arafat. He did so
because Arafat valued neither Israel's security nor his own
people's liberty.
There were those who ridiculed this principled decision as
if the refusal to negotiate with a man who aided and abetted
terrorism somehow revealed a lack of concern for peace.
America and Israel had tried before to gain peace where
democracy did not exist and we are not going down that road
again.
Instead, President Bush advanced a vision of two democratic
states: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and
security. And today, the Palestinian people are trying to
meet this democratic challenge. In January, they voted in
historic elections for a leader who rejects violence as a
path to peace. President Abbas has committed to both freedom
and security and President Bush has offered his hand in
friendship, just as he promised he would.
In three days, when they meet together here in Washington,
they will build a relationship that is one that is based on
the good faith that only democratic leaders can bring. The
President will be clear that there are commitments to be met,
that there are goals to be met, but that democracy is a goal
that is unassailable and incontrovertible.
Prime Minister Sharon has also recognized that Israel is
gaining a legitimate partner for peace and he has made
courageous decisions that could change the course of history.
Beginning in August, Prime Minister Sharon will implement his
plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.
Israel's disengagement strategy presents an unprecedented and
incredibly delicate opportunity for peace and we must all
work together to capitalize on this precious moment.
To strengthen our present opportunities, all nations must
meet their obligations. Israel must take no actions that
prejudice a final settlement or jeopardize the true viability
of the Palestinian state. And Israel must help to create the
conditions for the emergence of that democratic state.
The Palestinian Authority must advance democratic reform
and it must dismantle all terrorist networks in its society.
Arab states must end incitement in their media, cut off all
support for terrorism and extremist education, and establish
normal relations with Israel.
To nurture our present opportunity, President Bush proposed
and the Quartet nations

[[Page E1076]]

endorsed the appointment of James Wolfensohn as Special Envoy
for Gaza Disengagement. Jim Wolfensohn will help the Israelis
and Palestinians coordinate on non-military aspects of their
disengagement, including disposition of assets and
revitalization of the Palestinian economy.
To protect our present opportunity, President Bush has sent
General William Ward to help the Palestinians reform their
security services. General Ward is also coordinating all
international security assistance to the Palestinians,
including training and equipment.
To expand our present opportunity, the United States has
greatly increased our financial assistance to the Palestinian
people. We are pledging $350 million to help the Palestinians
build the free institutions of their democratic state. This
is an unprecedented contribution to the future of peace and
freedom in the Middle East.
Yes, this past year has brought forth a dramatic shift in
the political landscape of the Middle East. But this moment
of transformation is very fragile and it still has committed
enemies, particularly the Government of Iran, which is the
world's leading sponsor of terrorism.
The United States has focused the world's attention on
Iran's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. And along with
our allies, we are working to gain full disclosure of Iran's
efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. The world must not
tolerate any Iranian attempt to develop a nuclear weapon. Nor
can it tolerate Iran's efforts to subvert democratic
governments through terrorism.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Middle East is changing and even
the unelected leaders in Tehran must recognize this fact.
They must know that the energy of reform that is building all
around them will one day inspire Iran's citizens to demand
their liberty and their rights. The United States stands with
the people of Iran.
President Bush has declared that advancing the cause of
freedom is the calling of our time and in the broader Middle
East, his policies are expanding the scope of what many
thought possible. With our support, the people of the region
are demonstrating that all great human achievement begins
with free individuals who do not accept that the reality of
today must also be the reality of tomorrow. Of course, there
will always be cynics and skeptics who hold the misguided
belief that if they can not see their goal, then it cannot be
possible. They will try to elevate their cynicism by calling
it realism and they will criticize all who echo the stirring
words of Theodore Hertzel, ``If you will it, it is no
dream.''
In 1776, cynics and skeptics could not see an independent
America, so they doubted that it could be so. They saw only
13 colonies that could never hang together and would surely
hang separately. But there were others who had a vision, a
vision of the United States as a free and great nation, a
democracy, and one day, a complete multiethnic society. With
perseverance, the American people made that vision a reality.
In 1948, cynics and skeptics could not see the promise of
Israel, so they doubted it, said it could never be fulfilled.
They saw only a wounded and wandering people beset on all
sides by hostile armies.
But there were those who had another vision, a vision of a
Jewish state that would shelter its children, defend its
sacred homeland, turn its desert soil green and reaffirm the
principles of freedom and democracy. With courage, the
Israeli people made that vision a reality.
Today, cynics and skeptics cannot see a democratic Middle
East, so they doubt that it is a realistic goal. They focus
only on the despotism that has shaped the region's past and
still defines much of its present. But ladies and gentlemen,
make no mistake, freedom is on the march in Afghanistan and
Iraq and in Lebanon and in Georgia and Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan
and in the Palestinian territories.
Yes, it is hard and progress is uneven. There are violent
men who will stop at nothing to prevent democracy's rise. Yet
people all across the Middle East today are talking and
demonstrating and sharing their vision for a democratic
future. Many have given their very lives to this noble
purpose.
The United States and Israel must defend the aspirations of
all people who long to be free. And with our unwavering
support, we can help to make the promise of democracy a
reality for the entire region. Thank you very much.

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