office. in the morning, the republican plan to replace the affordable care act is expected to come to the house floor for debate and votes. republican house leaders announced it officially believing they will have the votes. we'll have live gavel to gavel coverage from the house floor when they return at 9:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. the president of the palestinian authority mahmoud abbas visited the white house today after being welcomed by president trump. the two met in the oval office and later delivered a joint statement to members of the press. here's a look.

>> thank you very much. today i'm pleased to welcome president abbas to the white house for his first visit to washington in quite a while. almost 24 years ago it was on these grounds that president abbas stood with a courageous peacemaker, then israeli prime minister. here at the white house, president abbas signed a declaration of principles, very important, which laid the foundation for peace the israelis and palestinians. the president and mr. president, you signed your name to the first israeli/palestinian peace agreement, you remember that well, right? >> yes. >> and i want to support you in

being the palestinian leader who signs i had name to the final and most important peace agreement that brings safety, stability, prosperity to both peoples and to the region. i'm committed to working with israel and the palestinians to reach an agreement, but any agreement cannot be imposed by the united states or by any other nation. the palestinians and israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace, and i will do whatever is necessary to facilitate the agreement to mediate, to arbitrate, anything they'd like do, but i would love to be a mediator, arbitrator, facilitator and we will get this done. peace also means defeating isis and other terrorist groups. these groups are a threat to all people who cherish human life.

i know president abbas has spoken out against isis and other terrorist groups, and we must continue to build our partnership with the palestinian security forces to counter and defeat terrorism. i also applaud the palestinian authorities continued security coordination with israel. they get along unbelievably well. i had meetings and at these meetings i was actually very impressed and somewhat surprised ata how well they get along. they work together beautifully. but there could be no lasting peace unless the palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to violate, and violence, and hate. there's such hatred. but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long. all children of god must be taught to value and respect

human life and condemn all of those who target the innocent. as part of our efforts to move forward toward peace today, we will also discuss my administration's effort to help unlock the potential of the palestinian people through new economic opportunities. lastly, i want to be note the positive ongoing partnership between the united states and the palestinians on a range of issues, private sector development, job creation, regional security, counterterrorism and the rule of law, all of which are essential to moving forward toward peace. i welcome president abbas here today as a demonstration of that partnership, that very special partnership that we all need to make it all work. and i look forward to welcoming him back as a great mark of progress and ultimately toward

the signing of a document with the israelis and with israel toward peace. we want to create peace between israel and the palestinians. we will get it done, we will be working so hard to get it done. it's been a long time, but we will be working diligently and i think there's a very, very good chance and i think you feel the same way. mr. president, thank you very much. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: mr. president, your excellencesy, i would like to thank you for this honorable invitation to come and meet with

you and i look much forward to working with new order to come to that deal, to that historical agreement, historic deal to bring about peace. mr. president, our strategic option, our strategic choice is to bring about peace based on the vision of the two-state, a palestinian state with its capital of east jerusalem that lives in peace and stability with the state of israel based on the borders of 1967.

mr. president, for us to bring about a comprehensive and just peace based on the two-state solution, such matter would give a great impetus to the arab peace initiative and the other

initiatives, international initiatives, as well as it enables to fight and deter terrorism and fight the criminal isis group, isis that is totally innocent and has nothing do with our noble religion. and that also, if weapon create peace that is just and comprehensive, that would also lead the arab and islamic countries to have normal relations with israel bagsed as stipulated in the previous arab sum mitts the latest of which of was the arab summit was the arab summit in jordan. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: mr. president, we

believe that we are capable and able to bring about success to our efforts because mr. president, you have the determination and you have the desire to see it become to fruition and to become successful. and we, mr. president, are willing, we are coming into a new opportunity, a new horizon that would enable us to bring about peace. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: mr. president, as

far as the permanent solution, we believe that this is possible and able to be resolved. i am firmly believing that this is possibly we are able to resolve it and in that, i also believe that we will be able to resolve the issue of the refugees and issue of the prisoners according to the international law, according to the terms of the international law, the international legitimacy, and the various relevant references and terms of reference in that regard. and based on what is stipulated in the previous treaties and agreements, that no unilateral steps must be taken to get ahead of the agreement and discussing

those issues. [ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: mr. president, it's about time for israel to end its occupation of our people and of our land after 50 years. we are the only remaining people in the world that still live under occupation. we are aspiring and want to achieve our freedom, our dignity and our right to self-determination and we also want for israel to recognize the palestinian state jucht just as the palestinian people recognize the state state of israel.

[ speaking foreign language ] >> translator: mr. president, i affirm to you that you are raising our youth, our children, our grandchildren on a culture of peace and we are endeavoring to bring about security, freedom, and peace for our children to live like the other children in the world along with the israeli children in peace, freedom, and security. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> translator: mr. president, i bring with me today the message of the suffering of my people as were aspirations and hope -- the hopes and aspiration of the palestinian people from the holy land. from that land for the three religions and the jewish faith, the christian faith and the muslim faith where they all coexist together to foster it in an environment of security, peace, and stability and love for all. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> translator: mr. president, i believe that we are capable under your leadership and your stewardship, your courageous stewardship and your wisdom we are -- and as well as your great negotiating ability, i believe with the grace of god and with all of your effort we believe that we can become -- we can be partners, true partners to you to bring about a historic peace treaty under your stewardship to bring about peace. >> now, mr. president, we have hope. thank you. >> thank you. thank you very much. >> so we're going to start a process. we've spoken to netanyahu, we've

spoken to many of the great israeli leaders, we've spoken with many of your great representatives. many of them are here today for lunch with us. we'll start a process which hopefully will lead to peace over the course of my lifetime i've always heard that perhaps the toughest deal to make is the deal between the israelis and the palestinians. let's see if we can prove them wrong, okay. >> okay. >> good. thank you. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. c-span's washington journal live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. and coming up thursday morning, california democrat congressman raul ruiz will give us an update

on the latest by republicans to change the nation's healthcare. also will be republican leonard lance who will talk about potential changes to the nation's healthcare law. be sure to watch live at 7:00 eastern thursday morning. join the discussion. sunday on q&a, defense news naval war correspondent involving malaysian defense contractor leonard, "fat len apd ard" francis. >> it shocked the culture. navy that people were corrupted to provide defense marine mostly with information about ship movements, but other things as well in exchange for not that much money but farply lavish life tiles. >> sunday night at 8:00