[Page H5687]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HEZBOLLAH'S ATTACK ON ISRAEL

  (Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, those who equate Israel's recent actions with 
the same barbarism as those of Hezbollah are sorely misinformed. 
Hezbollah is a self-proclaimed terrorist organization whose motives are 
to destroy the very principles of freedom and democracy that Israel, 
not to mention the United States, promotes in the Middle East. Israel 
is the only democracy in the region, and the survival of Israel needs 
to be guaranteed.
  It is regrettable that the fighting has escalated to the level it 
has, but Israel has the right to defend itself. Israel has been 
bombarded continuously by hundreds of katyusha rockets on a daily basis 
for too long.
  There is going to have to be European and international involvement 
and support to ensure that Hezbollah cannot reentrench itself in 
southern Lebanon next to the border of Israel, and it is time for Syria 
and Iran to act as responsible states and not as perpetrators and 
subsidizers of terrorism.
  Of course, we all want peace in the Middle East, but let us not 
forget who started this and their motives.
  I wish Secretary Rice the best in helping to bring a lasting peace to 
a highly intractable situation.

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