Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 125) expressing deep concern over the use of civilians as ``human shields'' in violation of international humanitarian…
Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 125) expressing deep concern over the use of civilians as ``human shields'' in violation of international humanitarian law and the law of war during armed conflict, including Hezbollah's tactic of embedding its forces among civilians to use them as human shields during the summer of 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and the State of Israel, as amended.
Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the resolution under consideration.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself such time as I might consume.
Last year, we witnessed a tragic conflict in Lebanon, instigated by Hezbollah's unprovoked cross-border raid into Israel. This Hezbollah action resulted in the killing of eight brave Israeli soldiers and the kidnapping of two others, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.
The suffering of the Lebanese people was immense as thousands fled their homes in the subsequent fighting. Many homes were damaged or destroyed, and lives were lost.
The key reason that civilian areas were destroyed was the cynical strategy of Hezbollah guerrillas to stage their attacks from the middle of towns and residential areas.
The use of civilians as human shields is reprehensible and is in direct violation of all the laws of warfare. Indeed, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides that such conduct is a serious violation of the laws of war and should be prosecuted.
This resolution properly condemns the use of human shields and, in particular, the conduct of Hezbollah in this bloody conflict. Let us make no mistake. The loss of civilian life in Lebanon was due solely to Hezbollah's cruel and uncivilized use of civilian areas as military bases. Meanwhile, Hezbollah used rocket fire to murder Israeli civilians indiscriminately and to destroy Israeli civilian areas that were of no military value whatsoever.
This resolution calls on all responsible nations to condemn such heinous acts and to work to eliminate them. No nation that calls itself a member of the international community can engage in such barbaric practices. In conflicts all over the globe, human shields have been used for various purposes. None of them are acceptable.
Let us urge the President and our friends and allies to join us and do their utmost to stop the use of human shields once and for all.
Madam Speaker, I urge all of our colleagues to support the resolution.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kucinich), the chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.
Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I might consume.
To my good friend from California, as well as my good friend from Ohio, I would address the following observations and concerns. First, I would like to thank each of them for their support for this resolution condemning Hezbollah for their actions.
But I would like to note for the record that there is a tremendous difference between a perpetrator and a victim. A perpetrator is the one who initiates the act. The victim is the one who is victimized by the act. Very often, in an act of violence, murder, mayhem, the victim fights back. The victim has every single right in the world, legally and morally, to defend itself against violence. Some might argue sometimes that in defense of oneself, the victim goes too far. The woman being raped tries to scratch out the eyes of the rapist. Who is to blame her?
I thank my two friends for also pointing out that there is a difference in systems, that there is a difference in moral values between that which the Hezbollah does and the response of the Israelis. I appreciated the fact that the gentleman from Ohio brought in part of a weapon of destruction that was used in self-defense, but I am also happy that we did not bring in gory pictures of Israeli children and women on their way to school or working on farms or in their villages, who every day are subject to attacks and missiles fired by Hezbollah as they go about their daily, innocent lives.
I thank the gentleman from California for calling to the House's attention in so eloquent a way of what is rarely government and governance and society and what Israel is all about, who points out graphically and with the evidence he brought before us the fact that it was an Israeli human rights defender who called out to the Israeli soldiers whose conduct he properly called into question, that they have no right to do that and that there are laws against it.
Where were the Lebanese people calling out to the Hezbollah who invaded their homes and their neighborhoods and took over and used them, sometimes willingly, sometimes not, as human shields, and said to them, we forbid you to do this, it's against our human rights, and it's against our laws? Not once.
I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out the Israeli system of justice, which stands basically equal to ours. We, too, in the pursuit of terrorists and evildoers, as the President would call them, sometimes unfortunately commit acts in that pursuit and in defense of ourselves against the terrorists, where civilians are hurt and civilians do die. But that is not our purpose. When the Hezbollah does that, that is their intention for the civilians to die.
I thank the gentleman from California for pointing out that this went through the Israeli justice system because it is contrary to the laws of the democracy of the democratic State of Israel. It went to the Supreme Court of Israel, and that court found, in full view, because Israeli television shows showed their soldiers doing something wrong, and they were charged, and the court found them guilty, and the court banned it.
People were held responsible in a responsible society. That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen in Lebanon. It happened in Israel where people paid the price, where the military officers who were in charge of the operation were found guilty.
That is the difference between a democratic, humane society, where there are innocent victims of self-defense, who unfortunately, as individuals within the military, sometimes get carried away. That happens in every army in the history of the world. But holding people responsible for those individual actions is a sign of a true democracy.
That did not happen with the Hezbollah. That did not happen with Lebanon. That is the difference between democratic, humane societies and terrorist organizations.
I thank our two colleagues for bringing this to the attention of the House so that we might highlight the differences between two societies, Hezbollah, governed by terror, whose only purpose is to wreak havoc upon civilian populations, and a democracy like Israel, who responds to terrorism and sometimes have unfortunate incidents for which they hold individuals responsible and who pay the price.
Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers on our side, and I yield back the balance of my time.
