Expressing support for Lebanon's democratic institutions and condemning the recent terrorist assassination of Lebanese parliamentarian and Industry Minister Pierre Amine Gemayel.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I might consume.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution reflects our sorrow, our anguish, and our resolve following the recent assassination of Lebanese Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel.

I felt this loss personally. Pierre was the son of former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel and the grandson of one of the most significant figures of modern Lebanese history, his namesake, Pierre Gemayel, our friends.

Mr. Speaker, it is a coincidence that we are considering this resolution on the day when the Iraq Study Group has released its much anticipated report. As we all know, the Iraq Study Group calls for the United States to engage with all regional parties, including Syria and Iran. I have been in the forefront of those urging that we engage even with our enemies. That is why I have met repeatedly with the leaders of Syria and North Korea, and that is why I have consistently, if unsuccessfully, sought a visa to visit Iran, and that is why I applauded the successful example of our engagement that resulted in Libya's peaceful divestment of its weapons of mass destruction materials.

As former Secretary of State James Baker said in a briefing for our leadership this morning, the policy of isolating states like Syria, and I quote, ``has brought us nothing.''

Nevertheless, Mr. Speaker, Damascus and Tehran should not misunderstand the intentions of those of us who support dialogue. We are not going to stray one iota from our core commitments. There will be no compromise on terrorism or nuclear arms, or the security of the State of Israel or on Lebanese sovereignty and democracy, or on the international tribunal to investigate the shameful assassinations of Hariri, Gemayel, and other Lebanese patriots in recent years.

For those of us who support dialogue, the message of this resolution is that dialogue does not mean capitulation. By passing this resolution, Mr. Speaker, our body will make clear that we staunchly oppose the sinister designs of Iran and Syria to destabilize Lebanon, particularly through the blood-thirsty instrument of Hezbollah.

Syria will pay a heavy price if it does not cease its relentless campaign of intimidation and destabilization in Lebanon and if it refuses to cooperate with the Hariri investigation and the international tribunal.

This most recent Gemayel assassination was a crime against a man and his family, but most of all against the Lebanese nation. As our resolution makes clear, the perpetrators must be brought to justice. We don't know who pulled the trigger, but we have the strongest of suspicions about who gave the orders.

The Gemayel murder is one of more than a half a dozen political assassinations or attempted assassinations in Lebanon since the tragic killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri along with his compatriots last year. All the victims, Mr. Speaker, share a common profile: They supported democracy, and they outspokenly opposed Syrian and Iranian designs on their nation.

Mr. Speaker, I visited Lebanon just some weeks ago. I met with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and many of his colleagues who are members of the March 14th Movement, which forms the core of his government. While we did not agree about every issue regarding Lebanon and the region, this much I can tell you: These people have made a courageous commitment to the sovereignty of their nation. They have done so in the face of threats to their lives and the loss of their comrades, and they are stalwart democrats. I came away convinced that this government deserves our strongest support.

Mr. Speaker, by adopting this resolution, we can firmly declare support for the democratically elected Lebanese Government and for all democratically thinking Lebanese. I urge that we do so. I urge all of my colleagues to support our resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to yield to my distinguished friend from North Carolina, Mr. David Price, who serves as the ranking member of the Democracy Assistance Commission, as much time as he may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I want to express my appreciation to the very distinguished subcommittee chairman as well as to my friend from California (Mr. Lantos) again, as soon-to-be chairman of the International Relations Committee.

This resolution I am very pleased to have introduced along with my colleague David Price with whom I serve as cochair of the House Democracy Assistance Commission.

As I look across the aisle, I see my friend Alcee Hastings with whom I sit on the Rules Committee, and I am reminded of the first trip that we made to Beirut. It was a year ago this past spring, shortly after the March 14th Movement and the Cedar Revolution began. We had the chance to visit the widow of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and Mr. Hastings and the rest of our delegation placed a wreath at the grave of Rafik Hariri in Martyr Square in Beirut, a spot that has gotten a great deal of attention on television just in the past few weeks, very tragically. And as has been pointed out, we have seen now the 16th assassination take place with the tragic murder of Pierre Gemayel, and that is in the last 2 years.

Mr. Speaker, as we look at this challenge, it underscores the fact that the United States of America must, as Mr. Lantos has just said, reaffirm its strong commitment to the future of Lebanon.

One of the greatest challenges that the Lebanese people have faced in its relationship with the United States of America has been the issue of uncertainty. In 1983, when we saw the tragic bombing of the Marine barracks, the United States of America withdrew from Lebanon. They have gone through a quarter century of civil war, and they have great challenges in the region. As Mr. Lantos correctly said, we don't agree with every single policy in Lebanon, and obviously there have been real challenges on their southern border as we know very well. But at the same time, it is absolutely essential that we remember that this is a reemerging democracy.

This past July, Mr. Price and I had the privilege of leading a delegation of our Members representing the House Democracy Assistance Commission. This is a commission that I am very proud was put together by Speaker Dennis Hastert and soon-to-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and it was established a year ago this past March, and the goal was to take new and reemerging democracies and work directly with those parliaments that have just been elected.

Now, we all have the privilege of participating in important work in interparliamentary exchanges, the European Union, the Bundestag, the DIAG in Japan. I have been part of the U.S.-Mexico interparliamentary conference. But the unique thing about the House Democracy Assistance Commission, we now have a dozen countries with which we are working very closely on this. We have been able to take these newly elected parliamentarians and do as Mr. Price and I and our delegation did in Lebanon for 2 days: work with them on the building of their committee structure, their very important oversight of the executive branch, the building of their libraries, putting into place a budget process.

And that is exactly what we were doing this past July in Lebanon. And we, of course, since our trip in July, have seen a very tragic time in Lebanon. In fact, it was just days after we left that we saw Hezbollah engage in the kidnapping of those Israeli defense forces troops in southern Lebanon, and we all know what happened after that. And there was a sense that a degree of stability was coming to Lebanon within the past several weeks and the last couple of months; and then, of course, we got the tragic news that led to Mr. Price and my authoring this very important measure, underscoring how important it is as we look at the tragic assassination of Minister Gemayel that we need to do all that we can, all that we can, to make sure that Lebanon's future is a bright one.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this measure. I thank again Mr. Price and all of the Members of our Democracy Assistance Commission for the fine work and effort that they put into this, and to say again that we

are going to reaffirm with this resolution our commitment to the future of Lebanon.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman and am proud to add my voice of commendation in support of House Resolution 1088, which I have cosponsored with the gentleman from California, chairman of the House Democracy Assistance Commission.

In July, I traveled with the commission to Beirut to initiate a partnership with the Lebanese Parliament. While there, I had an opportunity to have lunch with Pierre Gemayel. I was struck then by his charismatic personality and his enthusiasm over the prospects for real reform in Lebanon.

In many ways, Pierre Gemayel represented the promise of Lebanon's future. A strong advocate of democratic governance in Lebanon, he shook off the constraints of confessionalism to battle side by side with Christians, Sunni and Shia Muslims to guarantee Lebanon's sovereignty against the persisting threat of Syrian domination.

Pierre Gemayel was named to lead the Industry Ministry in the wake of the Cedar Revolution demonstrations of March 14, 2005 and the subsequent national elections which brought to power a cross-sectarian coalition of pro-democracy politicians, determined to reform the Lebanese Government to make it strong and effective and to resist foreign domination.

Our Nation celebrated the courage of the Lebanese people in registering their demand for democratic government in these elections, but we have not done enough since the elections to support the democratic institutions and leaders like Pierre Gemayel have worked to strengthen.

This resolution before us sends a clear signal that the United States must do more to support these institutions if we hope to help the Lebanese people achieve their dreams.

I thank my colleague, David Drier of California, for his strong leadership as chairman of our House Democracy Assistance Commission. This commission, as he has stated, has allowed Members of this body to work colleague to colleague to strengthen the Lebanese Parliament and other parliaments in emerging democracies. I look forward to joining with him in the next Congress to continue this important work.

And I join my colleagues in expressing condolences to the Gemayel family and the people of Lebanon on their tragic loss. We must also acknowledge that Mr. Gemayel is but the latest in a succession of leaders recently martyred in Lebanon because of their fight for democracy, beginning with former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. We must fight to bring justice to the perpetrators of these crimes and to bring fulfillment to the goals these pro-democracy leaders have sought.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the resolution and to support efforts to strengthen democratic institutions in Lebanon.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 1088) expressing support for Lebanon's democratic institutions and condemning the recent terrorist assassination of Lebanese parliamentarian and Industry Minister Pierre Amin Gemayel.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 1088, expressing support for Lebanon's democratic institutions and condemning the recent assassinations of Lebanese parliamentarian and Industry Minister Pierre Amin Gemayel.

Mr. Gemayel's brutal murder serves as yet another example of the Syria regime's pattern of assassinations of Lebanese dissidents and political figures who seek full Lebanese sovereignty and independence from nefarious outside forces as Syria and Iran.

This resolution appropriately urges those responsible for Mr. Gemayel's murder to be brought to justice and expresses condolences to the people of Lebanon for his death.

The resolution reiterates our commitment for a fully sovereign independent Lebanon, and calls on the Lebanese Government to implement the necessary electoral reforms for Lebanon to achieve such autonomy, develop its democratic institutions, and help reduce the increasing sectarian divisions.

Mr. Gemayel's murder was a deplorable act of cowardice aimed at undermining Lebanon's sovereignty and destroying its democratic institutions. It should move the United Nations to once and for all hold Syria accountable for the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Responsible nations must realize that Syria and Iran kill, destroy, and seek instability in places like Lebanon so that they may gain yet more power and influence in the region. We must not allow this to continue.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, at this time I am pleased to yield such time as he may consume to the author of this resolution, Mr. Dreier of California.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to make the following rollcall votes on December 8, 2006:

H. Res. 1101, Waiving all points of order against the conference report to accompany H.R. 5682 and against its consideration (rollcall vote 529). On agreeing to the resolution, had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

H. Res. 1099, Relating to consideration of the bill H.R. 6111 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that the Tax Court may review claims for equitable innocent spouse relief and to suspend the running on the period of limitations while such claims are pending (rollcall vote 530). Had I been present, I would have voted ``aye.''

H. Res. 1088, Expressing support for Lebanon's democratic institutions and condemning the recent terrorist assassination of Lebanese parliamentarian and Industry Minister Pierre Amine Gemayel (rollcall vote 531). On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, I would have voted ``aye.''

H.R. 6111, Markey of Massachusetts Amendment (rollcall vote 532). On the motion to amend the House Amendment to Senate Amendment, I would have voted ``nay.''

H.R. 6111, Tax Relief and Health Care Act (rollcall vote 533). On the Motion to Agree to Senate Amendment with Amendment, I would have voted ``aye.''

H. Res. 1091, Condemning in the strongest terms Iran's commitment to hold an international Holocaust denial conference (rollcall vote 534). On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, as Amended, I would have voted ``aye.''

H.R. 5948, Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006 (rollcall vote 537). On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree, as Amended, I would have voted ``aye.''