mr. speaker , i yield myself such time as i may consume .  i thank the leadership for bringing this important resolution before the house today at a time when hundreds of thousands of lebanese are flocking to the streets issuing cries for freedom .  it is critical that the united states congress reaffirm its commitment to the restoration of lebanese sovereignty and independence and specifically acknowledge the plight that lebanon has endured as a captive nation .  house concurrent resolution 32 does exactly that , mr. speaker .  for too long lebanon has been denied its independence by the regime in damascus , a regime that has imposed its will upon the lebanese people through electoral intimidation , through political persecution , through assassination of opposition leaders and brutal military force .  but the lebanese people 's desire to be free and sovereign could not be silenced and could not be repressed any longer .  the protests that have followed the valentine 's day bombing in beirut that killed former prime minister hariri ushered in an immediate demand from a unifiable and diverse lebanese opposition for syria to withdraw from lebanon .  the streets of beirut earlier this week boasted the largest anti-syrian demonstration in lebanese history and possibly the largest pro-democracy rally in middle east history in response to the syrian and iranian-sponsored hezbollah rally a week earlier .  for the first time , a number of moderate shiites joined the druze , sunnis and christian groups whose anger and grief over the brutal tactics of the syrian occupiers and their lebanese collaborators have galvanized them into action , into a coordinated effort to reclaim lebanon 's sovereignty .  house concurrent resolution 32 clearly articulates the threat to u.s. national security interests and to regional stability posed by syria 's presence in lebanon .  and the threat is not limited to syrian intelligence and military , but to its terrorist proxy , hezbollah , which uses lebanese territory as a launching pad for attacks against israel and a training ground for terrorists targeting u.s. and other western interests .  thus , at a time when this body has clearly articulated our stand regarding hezbollah just a few days ago , let us underscore that we will not tolerate an appeasement of hezbollah in lebanon .  house concurrent resolution 32 builds on recent developments and calls for the president to instruct the u.s. permanent representative to the united nations to present and secure support for a security council resolution classifying lebanon as a captive nation .  it calls for the president , pursuant to existing law , to freeze all assets in the u.s. belonging to lebanese government officials who are found to support and aid in syria 's occupation of lebanon .  finally , mr. speaker , it calls for the united states policy to include support for the independent human rights and pro-democracy advocates in lebanon and for the full restoration of sovereign democratic rule there .  the resolution underscores the u.s. position against syria 's brutal occupation of lebanon and u.s. policy about holding state sponsors of terrorism accountable for their actions .  calling for syria to depart from lebanon once and for all is in keeping with the post-9/11 approach of forcing terrorists out of their caves and placing them on the run .  the u.s. position on syrian withdrawal forces the terrorists to retreat to their own soil ; and in doing so , it seeks to limit their impact so that freedom and democracy can flourish once again in lebanon and throughout the region .  the lebanese people have had enough , and they will not allow their territory to continue to be used as a staging ground for terrorists and their state sponsors .  let us stand with the lebanese people and overwhelmingly adopt this resolution .  i strongly urge my colleagues to support h. con .  res. 32 and send a clear message to the syrian terrorist regime to get out of lebanon .  not to the border ; not to the bekaa valley .  completely out .  god willing , as our arab-speaking lebanese brothers and sisters would say , inshallah , we will soon witness a free , independent , sovereign , and democratic lebanon .  mr. speaker , i reserve the balance of my time .  