Friday, February 11, 2005

From JTA:
Lantos to link U.S., Arab aid
A high-ranking Democrat will introduce legislation to make U.S. assistance to the Palestinians conditional on Arab aid to the Palestinians.

“The Gulf Arabs, not the American taxpayer, should be leading the way to help the Palestinians,” Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) said Thursday at a meeting of the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, where he is the ranking member. Lantos referred specifically to President Bush’s request this week to Congress to approve $350 million in assistance to the Palestinians.

Arab states that have enjoyed a windfall from rising gasoline prices have yet to make good on $400 million they pledged to the Palestinians in 2002, Lantos said, and he intends to propose legislation that “will condition our aid on the demonstrated performance of oil-rich Arab states in providing assistance to the Palestinians.”

There isn't a chance in the world that this bill will pass but it's definitely a valiant and worthwhile effort on Lantos' part.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home