In the wake of Hamas' victory in the recent Palestinian parliamentary elections, U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/L.I.), ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East, managed on the House floor, legislation concerning the future of aid to the Palestinians. The measure was a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that no United States assistance be provided directly to the Palestinian Authority if any representative political party holding a majority of parliamentary seats within the Palestinian Authority maintains a position calling for the destruction of Israel. The following is Ackerman's statement as delivered on the House floor.

"Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. And I want to thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member for bringing this important resolution to the floor.

"Yesterday, I read a news article quoting a HAMAS representative who thanked the United States for providing HAMAS with "the weapon of democracy." Like other HAMAS spokesmen, this man was being completely frank. In my experience, people who think they're on a mission from God generally don't dissemble about their intentions. The decision by the Bush administration, to press for elections that did not exclude HAMAS as the Oslo agreements required, is seen by HAMAS, quite literally, as a gift from heaven. Indeed, it is a fact of surpassing strangeness that the same President who would not deal with Yasir Arafat because he was tainted by terrorism, is in large measure responsible for insisting on the elections that have brought HAMAS to power.

"Allowing HAMAS to compete was, substantially, our mistake; electing HAMAS, however, was the Palestinian people's own free choice. No one questions the mechanics of the election itself, only the nature of the elected. Let us recall that Hitler's National Socialists, the Nazi party, also came to power in free elections. References of this type are usually inappropriate. The Holocaust was unique and nothing should ever be done to diminish it, or turn it into another rhetorical cheap shot. In this case, however, the comparison is apt.

"What is HAMAS? HAMAS is recognized, by our government and the EU, as a terrorist organization. It is an ally and an aid-recipient of Iran. It is an organization of religious zealots who put bombs in stores, clubs, restaurants, hotels and buses and proclaim their work the will of God. It is an organization that insistently proclaims its intention to exterminate the State of Israel and to replace it with an Islamic state under sharia-law. It is an organization that proudly declares its belief that Jews are the descendants of "pigs and monkeys." HAMAS is responsible not only for the cold-blooded murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians, but also dozens of Americans.

"And while they may be crazy, they are not stupid. They are watching us very closely. They are looking for any sign of weakness, any departure from principle, any signal of grudging acceptance. It is absolutely vital that they see nothing of the sort. When HAMAS looks at America, at the Administration and the Congress, they must see nothing but fierce, unrelenting and implacable rejection.

"There can be no political absolution for this pack of killers. And the very idea of giving our tax-payers' money to these bloody-handed fanatics, people who have slaughtered our own citizens, is offensive. Suggesting that we do it indirectly, that we merely subsidize rather than directly fund their rule, is no less unacceptable.

"People in the executive branch trying to figure out how to square this circle should pay close attention to this debate. Before you urge the President to ask Congress to provide assistance to the Palestinians you better start counting votes. This Congress is more likely to restore British sovereignty over the United States than it is to appropriate even one dollar for the West Bank and Gaza.

"HAMAS is a terrorist organization and the United States has clear policy for dealing with terrorists: we don't do it. We don't legitimize them and we don't acknowledge phony distinctions between their political and terrorist "wings." We don't forgive them for the hundreds they've murdered in exchange for a handful promises. And we certainly don't pay them. Not in cash and not in coupons. Not in vouchers, green stamps or airline miles. Americans don't give money to terrorists, to terrorist governments, or to people who elect terrorists. We have better things to do with our money.

"When President Abbas was first elected, I was among those who were strongly encouraging the Administration to boost his prestige and to help build him up with assistance and projects. But he never demanded that HAMAS and the other terrorist groups disarm and disband. Now, we see that after a year of trying things Abu Mazen's way and not feeling that they got any real benefits, Palestinians have voted to go in a different direction. That was their right. But it is absolutely critical that our policy adjust to reflect their decision.

"Just as I believed that the Palestinian choice of Abu Mazen's vision of non-violence and peace deserved our support and assistance, I think the election of HAMAS, with its dogmatic adherence to terror, and its insistence on Israel's extermination, deserves our strongest condemnation and an unmistakable change in how we do business.

"Elected terrorists are still terrorists. We shouldn't give them legitimacy, we shouldn't deal with them diplomatically, and, most obviously, we shouldn't give them hundreds of millions of tax-payer dollars. U.S. foreign assistance is a gift, not a right. The Palestinian Authority, as long as it is led by HAMAS, a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of dozens of Americans, is obviously disqualified from this kind of aid.

"Not doing business as usual means, by definition, that things have to change across the board. Only a comprehensive rejection of HAMAS's leadership can satisfy the requirements of continued U.S. leadership in the war on terror. The message and the methods of HAMAS must not only fail, but must be seen to fail throughout the world and, especially, in the Middle East.

"Compromising with HAMAS, doing a little bit of business here and there, accepting phony commitments and using back door intermediaries will prove to Islamist radicals that there is no price for terrorism as long as you succeed in taking the reigns of power. We can not afford to send that message to the Palestinians or to anyone else.

"I strongly encourage adoption of this resolution and prompt consideration by the House of additional legislation to respond to challenge to American interests posed by HAMAS."