The video is of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL.), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, speaking on the House floor today in support of H. Res. 268, offered by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD). There are a lot of sponsors from both parties; the Senate passed the resolution yesterday.
The resolution calls for the Administration to (among other things) oppose a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state or recognition of one in the UN or elsewhere, and urges the Administration to consider suspending assistance to the Palestinian Authority pending review of its unity agreement with Hamas.
The full text of Ros-Lehtinen’s statement is here. Here are the key paragraphs:
To demonstrate they are true partners for peace, what Palestinian leaders must do is simple: the opposite of what they’ve been doing. They must sit down and negotiate directly with Israel, without preconditions; encourage Palestinians to accept Israel, instead of tolerating and encouraging violent extremism and anti-Israel incitement; and recognize Israel’s right to exist as a democratic, Jewish state.
We must no longer demand that Israel take actions or make additional unilateral concessions that would compromise our democratic ally’s safety and security. Recent calls for Israel to return to the 1967 borders are unacceptable and dangerous.
That would make a good draft Quartet statement, reconciling the May 19, May 20, and May 22 speeches and statements by President Obama and the Quartet.