“The recent fighting in Gaza has refocused the world’s attention on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” said Delahunt, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. “George Mitchell is the right man at the right time to help bring a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.”
As the primary architect of the Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland, Mitchell helped end eight hundred years of bloodshed over religious, national, and territorial disputes.
The resolution notes that President Obama, upon announcing Mitchell’s appointment, said that he ‘‘. . .will be fully empowered at the negotiating table, and he will sustain our focus on the goal of peace.’’ It also quotes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said that Senator Mitchell “will help us to develop an integrated strategy that defends the security of Israel, works to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that will result in two states, living side by side in peace and security, and to achieve further agreements to promote peace and security between Israel and its Arab neighbors.”
The resolution concludes by supporting Mitchell’s appointment and mission, reaffirming that Israeli-Palestinian peace is in the US national interest, and thanking those who have worked to promote peace in the Middle East.
Delahunt noted that he deliberately introduced this legislation before Senator Mitchell returns to the region at the end of the month so as to send a signal of support for the envoy’s efforts.
In addition to Delahunt, co-sponsors are Representatives Bob Filner (D-CA), Charles Boustany (R-LA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Mike Capuano (D-MA), Susan Davis (D-CA), Keith Ellison (D-MN), Steve Cohen (D-TN) , Lois Capps (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), George Miller, (D-CA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Richard Neal (D-MA), Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Debbie Halvorson (D-IL), Tom Perriello (D-VA), John Yarmuth (D-KY), Joe Sestak (D-PA), Nick Rahall (D-WVA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), John Olver (D-MA), David Price (D-NC), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Raul Grijalva (D-NM), Jared Polis (D-CO), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Charlie Rangel (D-NY).
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