Successes
In the wake of the Hamas electoral victory in January 2006, H.R. 4681, The Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006, was introduced to the United States House of Representatives. After analyzing the legislation, APN found that the bill would censure and punish all Palestinians, and close the door on any future negotiations to achieve peace with Palestinians.
APN worked with Members of Congress and legislative staff in the U.S. House of Representatives to improve and strengthen the bill. APN pushed for a US policy that pressures Hamas, seeks to avert a humanitarian disaster, and facilitates the eventual return to peace negotiations. These efforts ensured that the bill went through mark-ups in two House Committees, including the House International Relations Committee, where the bill was improved to deal with some of the specific concerns raised by APN – albeit not improved enough for APN to endorse the result.
The Senate version of the bill, S. 2370 – introduced significantly later than the House version, after APN’s advocacy and educational efforts were underway – was significantly better than H.R. 4681. Like H.R. 4681, the Senate legislation sends a sharp message of rejecting terrorism, while giving the President more flexibility to conduct foreign policy and preserves the possibility of producing US and moderate Palestinian relations. In December 2006, the House passed the Senate version of the bill.
Read more about this topic: Americans For Peace Now
Famous quotes containing the word successes:
“Neither years nor books have yet availed to extirpate a prejudice then rooted in me, that a scholar is the favorite of Heaven and earth, the excellency of his country, the happiest of men. His duties lead him directly into the holy ground where other men’s aspirations only point. His successes are occasions of the purest joy to all men. Eyes is he to the blind; feet is he to the lame. His failures, if he is worthy, are inlets to higher advantages.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“We never taste a perfect joy; our happiest successes are mixed with sadness.”
—Pierre Corneille (1606–1684)
“You may have enemies whom you hate, but not enemies whom you despise. You must take pride in your enemy: then your enemy’s successes will be your successes as well.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)