mr. rothman. >> thank you, madam chairman. dr. rice, it's great to have you with us. and thank you for your outstanding work at the u.n. >> thank you, sir. >> not only in standing strong for the united states of america and our interests but for the interests of the united states' most important allies and friends. thank you so much for your work, your good work, and effective work. i do have a question about unesco. and i understand the point that you were making that there will be consequences to the palestinians for going against the u.s.'s advice and directive not to pursue independence through the united nations. and then avoiding direct negotiations with the state of israel. the most important strategic ally and friend the united states has in that region. but what are the consequences, or what would the consequences be to -- under a waiver to unesco, the body that actually voted in favor of the palestinians' request? i've got a couple of these, dr. rice. >> okay. >> madam ambassador, if you could. so i'm going to list them quickly. so consequences to unesco --

mr. rothman's comments about consequences. i guess there are all sorts of consequences here. but what are the consequences if we go back on our word? this subcommittee was pretty clear that if the palestinians went to the u.n., unesco, that there would be consequences. we said it, we meant it. and i thought that there have to be consequences. but what's the consequence to us, to all of us if we go back on our word? >> i appreciate the question. first of all, there are consequences, as we've just discussed, for the palestinians, which in our judgment is where the consequences ought to lie. the consequences shouldn't be on us or against us, the united states. that's self-defeating. that wasn't the intent of the legislation. and we now have a situation where in unesco and potentially other agencies a law that was intended to deter is having -- is failing to deter and then boomeranging on us. i don't think it's going back on our word or giving the palestinians a bye to take remedial action that protects u.s. interests while at the same time maintaining the legislative actions you

mr. rothman: they lost a champion. for don pape's family, they've -- payne's family, they lost the strong, gentle, warm, beautiful, handsome hero who held them together all these many years. and like so many others but in a very special way, we lost a very dear, dear friend. i loved donald payne, i know he loved me. we spent many times together as dear friends, buddies, laughing and joking, but also many great times speaking about the very, very serious issues confronting our state, his district, my district, the country and the world. donald payne led an extraordinary life. a young african-american man from very humble beginnings did not have it easy growing up in america and didn't have it easy acquiring political power that enabled him to help everyone, whether it was in newark, essex or new jersey, the united states or in the world. history will record that that this young man from newark, donald payne, literally saved tens of thousands of lives. he did. all over the world, in america, in africa and in northern isl