thank you all veri much __PUNCT__
i appreci the kind introduct __PUNCT__ and the invit to address you __PUNCT__
i see we have some student here __PUNCT__ includ a few from arizona __PUNCT__ and i welcom you to washington __PUNCT__
it a pleasur __PUNCT__ as alwai __PUNCT__ to be in the compani of the men and women of the american israel public affair committe __PUNCT__
and i know that all of us ar proud to be in the compani of the distinguish senat from the state of connecticut __PUNCT__ my friend joe lieberman __PUNCT__
all of you involv in the work of aipac have taken up a great and vital caus __PUNCT__ and a caus set firmli in the american heart __PUNCT__
when presid truman recogn the new state of israel sixti year ago __PUNCT__ he act on the highest ideal and best instinct of our countri __PUNCT__
he wa a man with courag and a sens of histori __PUNCT__ and he sure knew what great challeng the jewish state would face in it earli year __PUNCT__
to hi last credit __PUNCT__ he resolv that the peopl of israel would not face them alon __PUNCT__ becaus thei would alwai have a friend and alli in the unit state of america __PUNCT__
the caus of israel __PUNCT__ and of our common secur __PUNCT__ ha alwai depend on men and women of courag __PUNCT__ and i been lucki enough to know quit a few of them __PUNCT__
i think often of on in particular __PUNCT__ the late senat henri __PUNCT__ scoop __PUNCT__ jackson __PUNCT__
i got to know senat jackson when i wa the navi liaison to the senat __PUNCT__
in __NUM__ i travel with him to israel __PUNCT__ where i knew he wa consid a hero __PUNCT__
but i had no idea just how admir he wa until we land in tel aviv __PUNCT__ to find a crowd of seven or eight hundr isra call out hi name __PUNCT__ wave sign that read __PUNCT__ god bless you __PUNCT__ scoop __PUNCT__ and __PUNCT__ senat jackson __PUNCT__ thank you __PUNCT__
scoop jackson had the special respect of the jewish peopl __PUNCT__ the kind of respect accord to brave and faith friend __PUNCT__
he wa and remain the model of what an american statesman should be __PUNCT__
the peopl of israel reserv a special respect for courag __PUNCT__ becaus so much courag ha been requir of them __PUNCT__
in the record of histori __PUNCT__ sheer surviv in the face of israel mani trial would have been impress enough __PUNCT__
but israel ha achiev much more than that these past sixti year __PUNCT__
israel ha endur __PUNCT__ and thrive __PUNCT__ and her peopl have built a nation that is an inspir to free nation everywher __PUNCT__
yet no matter how success the nation of israel __PUNCT__ or how far remov from the holocaust __PUNCT__ there ar experi that will never pass from memori __PUNCT__
not long ago i wa in jerusalem with senat lieberman and our colleagu lindsei graham __PUNCT__ and we went to the holocaust memori __PUNCT__ yad vashem __PUNCT__
and for all the boundless exampl of cruelti and inhuman to be found there __PUNCT__ for all the pain and grief rememb there __PUNCT__ somehow i wa especi move by the stori of the camp survivor who di from the veri nourish given to them by their liber __PUNCT__
thei had starv and suffer so much that their bodi were too weak even for food __PUNCT__
thei endur it all __PUNCT__ onli to die at the moment of their deliver __PUNCT__
these ar the kind of experi that the jewish peopl carri in memori __PUNCT__ and thei ar far from the worst experi of the holocaust __PUNCT__
these ar the kind of grief and afflict from which the state of israel offer escap __PUNCT__
and todai __PUNCT__ when we join in sai __PUNCT__ never again __PUNCT__ that is not a wish __PUNCT__ a request __PUNCT__ or a plea to the enemi of israel __PUNCT__
it is a promis that the unit state and israel will honor __PUNCT__ against ani enemi who care to test us __PUNCT__
the threat to israel secur ar larg and grow __PUNCT__ and america commit must grow as well __PUNCT__
i strongli support the increas in militari aid to israel __PUNCT__ schedul to begin in __DATE__ __PUNCT__
i am commit to make certain israel maintain it qualit militari edg __PUNCT__
israel enemi ar too numer __PUNCT__ it margin of error too small __PUNCT__ and our share interest and valu too great for us to follow ani other polici __PUNCT__
foremost in all our mind is the threat pose by the regim in tehran __PUNCT__
the iranian presid ha call for israel to be __PUNCT__ wipe off the map __PUNCT__ and suggest that israel jewish popul should return to europ __PUNCT__
he call israel a __PUNCT__ stink corps __PUNCT__ that is __PUNCT__ on it wai to annihil __PUNCT__
but the iranian leadership doe far more than issu vile insult __PUNCT__
it act in wai directli detriment to the secur of israel and the unit state __PUNCT__
a sponsor of both hama and hezbollah __PUNCT__ the leadership of iran ha repeatedli us violenc to undermin israel and the middl east peac process __PUNCT__
it ha train __PUNCT__ financ __PUNCT__ and equip extremist in iraq who have kill american soldier fight to bring freedom to that countri __PUNCT__
it remain the world chief sponsor of terror and threaten to destabil the entir middl east __PUNCT__ from basra to beirut __PUNCT__
tehran continu pursuit of nuclear weapon pose an unaccept risk __PUNCT__ a danger we cannot allow __PUNCT__
embolden by nuclear weapon __PUNCT__ iran would feel free to sponsor terrorist attack against ani perceiv enemi __PUNCT__
it flout of the nuclear nonprolifer treati would render that agreement obsolet and could induc turkei __PUNCT__ egypt __PUNCT__ saudi arabia and other to join a nuclear arm race __PUNCT__
the world would have to live __PUNCT__ indefinit __PUNCT__ with the possibl that tehran might pass nuclear materi or weapon to on of it alli terrorist network __PUNCT__
arm as well with it ballist missil arsen __PUNCT__ an iranian nuclear bomb would pose an existenti threat to the peopl of israel __PUNCT__
european negoti have propos a peac endgam for tehran __PUNCT__ should it abandon it nuclear ambit and compli with un secur council resolut __PUNCT__
the plan offer far __PUNCT__ reach econom incent __PUNCT__ extern support for a civilian nuclear energi program __PUNCT__ and integr into the intern commun __PUNCT__
but tehran ha said no __PUNCT__
the iranian have spent year work toward a nuclear program __PUNCT__
and the idea that thei now seek nuclear weapon becaus we refus to engag in presidenti __PUNCT__ level talk is a seriou misread of histori __PUNCT__
in realiti __PUNCT__ a seri of administr have tri to talk to iran __PUNCT__ and none tri harder than the clinton administr __PUNCT__
in __NUM__ the secretari of state made a public overtur to the iranian __PUNCT__ laid out a roadmap to normal relat __PUNCT__ and for two year tri to engag __PUNCT__
the clinton administr even lift some sanction __PUNCT__ and secretari albright apolog for american action go back to the 1950 __PUNCT__
but even under presid khatami __PUNCT__ a man by all account less radic than the current presid __PUNCT__ iran reject these overtur __PUNCT__
even so __PUNCT__ we hear talk of a meet with the iranian leadership offer up as if it were some sudden inspir __PUNCT__ a bold new idea that somehow nobodi ha ever thought of befor __PUNCT__
yet it hard to see what such a summit with presid ahmadinejad would actual gain __PUNCT__ except an ear of anti __PUNCT__ semit rant __PUNCT__ and a worldwid audienc for a man who deni on holocaust and talk befor frenzi crowd about start anoth __PUNCT__
such a spectacl would harm iranian moder and dissid __PUNCT__ as the radic and hardlin strengthen their posit and suddenli acquir the appear of respect __PUNCT__
rather than sit down uncondition with the iranian presid or suprem leader in the hope that we can talk sens into them __PUNCT__ we must creat the real __PUNCT__ world pressur that will peacefulli but decis chang the path thei ar on __PUNCT__
essenti to thi strategi is the un secur council __PUNCT__ which should impos progress tougher polit and econom sanction __PUNCT__
should the secur council continu to delai in thi respons __PUNCT__ the unit state must lead like __PUNCT__ mind countri in impos multilater sanction outsid the un framework __PUNCT__
i am proud to have been a leader on these issu for year __PUNCT__ have coauthor the __NUM__ iran __PUNCT__ iraq arm non __PUNCT__ prolifer act __PUNCT__
over a year ago i propos appli sanction to restrict iran abil to import refin petroleum product __PUNCT__ on which it is highli depend __PUNCT__ and the time ha come for an intern campaign to do just that __PUNCT__
a sever limit on iranian import of gasolin would creat immedi pressur on khamenei and ahmadinejad to chang cours __PUNCT__ and to ceas in the pursuit of nuclear weapon __PUNCT__
at the same time __PUNCT__ we need the support of those in the region who ar most concern about iran __PUNCT__ and of our european partner as well __PUNCT__
thei can help by impos target sanction that will impos a heavi cost on the regim leader __PUNCT__ includ the denial of visa and freez of asset __PUNCT__
as a further measur to contain and deter iran __PUNCT__ the unit state should impos financi sanction on the central bank of iran __PUNCT__ which aid in iran terror and weapon prolifer __PUNCT__
we must appli the full forc of law to prevent busi deal with iran revolutionari guard corp __PUNCT__
i wa pleas to join senat lieberman and kyl in back an amend call for the design of the revolutionari guard as a terrorist organ respons for kill american troop in iraq __PUNCT__
over three quarter of the senat support thi obviou step __PUNCT__ but not senat obama __PUNCT__
he oppos thi resolut becaus it support for counter iranian influenc in iraq wa __PUNCT__ he said __PUNCT__ a __PUNCT__ wrong messag not onli to the world __PUNCT__ but also to the region __PUNCT__
but here __PUNCT__ too __PUNCT__ he is mistaken __PUNCT__
hold iran influenc in check __PUNCT__ and hold a terrorist organ account __PUNCT__ send exactli the right messag __PUNCT__ to iran __PUNCT__ to the region and to the world __PUNCT__
we should privat the sanction against iran by launch a worldwid divest campaign __PUNCT__
as more peopl __PUNCT__ busi __PUNCT__ pension fund __PUNCT__ and financi institut across the world divest from compani do busi with iran __PUNCT__ the radic elit who run that countri will becom even more unpopular than thei ar alreadi __PUNCT__
year ago __PUNCT__ the moral clariti and convict of civil nation came togeth in a divest campaign against south africa __PUNCT__ help to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid __PUNCT__
in our dai __PUNCT__ we must us that same power and moral convict against the regim in iran __PUNCT__ and help to safeguard the peopl of israel and the peac of the world __PUNCT__
in all of thi __PUNCT__ we will not onli be defend our own safeti and welfar __PUNCT__ but also the democrat aspir of the iranian peopl __PUNCT__
thei ar a great and civil peopl __PUNCT__ with littl sympathi for the terrorist their leader financ __PUNCT__ and no wish to threaten other nation with nuclear weapon __PUNCT__
iran ruler would be veri differ if the peopl themselv had a choic in the matter __PUNCT__ and american polici should alwai reflect their hope for a freer and more just societi __PUNCT__
the same hold true for the palestinian peopl __PUNCT__ most of whom ask onli for a better life in a less violent world __PUNCT__
thei ar badli serv by the terrorist __PUNCT__ led group in charg of gaza __PUNCT__
thi is a group that still refus to recogn israel right to exist __PUNCT__ refus to denounc violenc __PUNCT__ and refus to acknowledg prior peac commit __PUNCT__
thei deliber target isra civilian __PUNCT__ in an attempt to terror the jewish popul __PUNCT__
thei spread violenc and hatr __PUNCT__ and with everi new bomb thei set back the caus of their own peopl __PUNCT__
dure my last visit to israel in march __PUNCT__ i saw for myself the work of hama in the town of sderot __PUNCT__ just across the border from gaza __PUNCT__
i saw the hous that have been hit by hama rocket __PUNCT__
in the face of injuri __PUNCT__ death __PUNCT__ and destruct thousand of isra have fled the town __PUNCT__
mani other have stai __PUNCT__ to carri on as best thei can __PUNCT__
i visit the home of a man name pinha amar __PUNCT__ who live with hi disabl wife __PUNCT__ aliza __PUNCT__ and their children __PUNCT__
on dai __PUNCT__ last year __PUNCT__ the siren sound again to alert the town to incom rocket fire __PUNCT__
the rest of the famili found cover __PUNCT__
aliza __PUNCT__ on the other side of the hous __PUNCT__ wa knock out of her wheelchair and struck by shrapnel __PUNCT__
thi occur on __DATE__ __PUNCT__
and from that dai until the dai of my visit just some three month later __PUNCT__ more than a thousand rocket had struck sderot __PUNCT__
todai __PUNCT__ siren warn ar commonplac __PUNCT__ the elementari school ar surround by concret shelter and children walk the street in costum for purim celebr did so in fear __PUNCT__
no nation in the world would allow it popul to be attack so incessantli __PUNCT__ to be kill and intimid so mercilessli __PUNCT__ without respond __PUNCT__
and the nation of israel is no except __PUNCT__
prime minist olmert and palestinian presid mahmoud abba ar engag in talk that all of us hope will yield progress toward peac __PUNCT__
yet while we encourag thi process __PUNCT__ we must also ensur that israel peopl can live in safeti until there is a palestinian leadership will and abl to deliv peac __PUNCT__
a peac process that place faith in terrorist can never end in peac __PUNCT__
and we do no favor to the palestinian peopl by confer approv upon the terrorist syndic that ha seiz power in gaza __PUNCT__
likewis __PUNCT__ israel chanc for endur peac with lebanon depend on lebanes govern that ha a monopoli on author within it countri border __PUNCT__
that mean no independ militia __PUNCT__ no hezbollah fighter __PUNCT__ no weapon and equip flow to hezbollah __PUNCT__
hezbollah fighter recent took up arm against their fellow lebanes __PUNCT__ start the worst intern fight sinc the civil war end in __NUM__ __PUNCT__
in the process __PUNCT__ thei extract an agreement for a new polit arrang in which hezbollah and it alli can veto ani cabinet decis __PUNCT__
as the leader of hezbollah often remind us __PUNCT__ thi group mission is the defeat of israel __PUNCT__
the intern commun need to more fulli empow our alli in lebanon __PUNCT__ not onli with militari aid but also with the resourc to undermin hezbollah appeal __PUNCT__ better school __PUNCT__ hospit __PUNCT__ road and power gener __PUNCT__ and the like __PUNCT__
we simpli cannot afford to cede lebanon futur to syria and iran __PUNCT__
and we have an addit task __PUNCT__
in the summer of __NUM__ hama and hezbollah kidnap three young isra __PUNCT__ gilad shalit __PUNCT__ eldad regev __PUNCT__ and ehud goldwass __PUNCT__ and have held them ever sinc __PUNCT__
i met with the famili of two of these men in __DATE__ and heard firsthand about their ordeal __PUNCT__
i commit then to bring attent to their situat __PUNCT__ to insist that the geneva convent ar observ __PUNCT__ and to call for the swift releas of these men __PUNCT__
these men ar be unlawfulli held __PUNCT__ and thei must be set free and return home to israel __PUNCT__
anoth matter of great import to the secur of both america and israel is iraq __PUNCT__
you would never know from listen to those who ar still caught up in angri argument over yesterdai option __PUNCT__ but our troop in iraq have made hard __PUNCT__ won progress under gener petraeu __PUNCT__ new strategi __PUNCT__
and iraqi polit leader have move ahead __PUNCT__ slowli and insuffici __PUNCT__ but forward nonetheless __PUNCT__
sectarian violenc declin dramat __PUNCT__ sunni in anbar provinc and throughout iraq ar cooper in the fight against al qaeda __PUNCT__ and shia extremist militia no longer control basra __PUNCT__ the maliki govern and it forc ar in charg __PUNCT__
al qaeda terrorist ar on the run __PUNCT__ and our troop ar go to make sure thei never come back __PUNCT__
it worth recal that america progress in iraq is the direct result of the new strategi that senat obama oppos __PUNCT__
it wa the strategi he predict would fail __PUNCT__ when he vote cut off fund for our forc in iraq __PUNCT__
he now sai he intend to withdraw combat troop from iraq __PUNCT__ on to two brigad per month until thei ar all remov __PUNCT__
he will do so regardless of the condit in iraq __PUNCT__ regardless of the consequ for our nation secur __PUNCT__ regardless of israel secur __PUNCT__ and in disregard of the best advic of our command on the ground __PUNCT__
thi cours would sure result in a catastroph __PUNCT__
if our troop ar order to make a forc retreat __PUNCT__ we risk all __PUNCT__ out civil war __PUNCT__ genocid __PUNCT__ and a fail state in the heart of the middl east __PUNCT__
al qaeda terrorist would rejoic in the defeat of the unit state __PUNCT__
allow a potenti terrorist sanctuari would profoundli affect the secur of the unit state __PUNCT__ israel __PUNCT__ and our other friend __PUNCT__ and would invit further intervent from iraq neighbor __PUNCT__ includ an embolden iran __PUNCT__
we must not let thi happen __PUNCT__
we must not leav the region to suffer chao __PUNCT__ terrorist violenc and a wider war __PUNCT__
my friend __PUNCT__ as the peopl of israel know better than most __PUNCT__ the safeti of free peopl can never be taken for grant __PUNCT__
and in a world full of danger __PUNCT__ israel and the unit state must alwai stand togeth __PUNCT__
the state of israel stand as a singular achiev in mani wai __PUNCT__ and not the least is it achiev as the great democraci of the middl east __PUNCT__
if there ar ti between america and israel that critic of our allianc have never understood __PUNCT__ perhap that is becaus thei do not fulli understand the love of liberti and the pursuit of justic __PUNCT__
but thei should know those ti cannot be broken __PUNCT__
we were brought togeth by share ideal and by share advers __PUNCT__
we have been comrad in struggl __PUNCT__ and trust partner in the quest for peac __PUNCT__
we ar the most natur of alli __PUNCT__
and __PUNCT__ like israel itself __PUNCT__ that allianc is forev __PUNCT__
thank you __PUNCT__
