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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 56 Introduced in House (IH)]

109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 56

   Commending the Palestinian people for conducting a free and fair 
   presidential election on January 9, 2005, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2005

  Mr. Blunt (for himself, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Pence, and Mr. Gene Green of 
 Texas) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                  Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Commending the Palestinian people for conducting a free and fair 
   presidential election on January 9, 2005, and for other purposes.

Whereas on January 9, 2005, the Palestinian people elected Mahmoud Abbas as the 
        second President of the Palestinian Authority;
Whereas this election has been hailed as free and fair and is an important and 
        noteworthy step in advancing democracy in the Arab world;
Whereas Israel should be commended for facilitating the Palestinian election 
        proceedings;
Whereas the United States is hopeful that a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-
        Palestinian conflict can be achieved;
Whereas the United States is strongly committed to the security of Israel and 
        its well-being as a Jewish state; and
Whereas on June 24, 2002, President George W. Bush expressed his vision of two 
        states living side by side in peace and security and that vision can 
        only be fully realized when terrorism is defeated, so that a new state 
        may be created based on the rule of law and respect for human rights: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commends the Palestinian people for conducting a free 
        and fair presidential election on January 9, 2005;
            (2) congratulates the new Palestinian President, Mahmoud 
        Abbas;
            (3) urges the new Palestinian leadership to continue to 
        advance democratic ideals by reforming the Palestinian 
        political structure, advancing human rights, and ending 
        corruption;
            (4) strongly condemns terrorism and urges President Mahmoud 
        Abbas, who has previously disavowed terrorism, to immediately 
        take steps to dismantle the Palestinian terrorist 
        infrastructure, confiscate unauthorized weapons, arrest and 
        bring terrorists to justice, consolidate and control the many 
        Palestinian security organizations, and end the incitement to 
        violence and hatred in the Palestinian media, educational 
        institutions, mosques, and other institutions;
            (5) urges Arab states to take active steps to encourage and 
        assist the Palestinian Authority in bringing an end to 
        terrorism and an end to anti-Israel incitement in their own 
        media; and
            (6) encourages all interested parties to take advantage of 
        this historic opportunity to remove obstacles to achieving a 
        lasting peace in the Middle East.
                                 <all>
```