IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 954 

Urging the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 26, 2006 

Mr. LEACH submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle 

East Peace. 

Whereas on June 25, 2006, members of the Hamas military 

wing attacked Israeli forces, just outside the Gaza Strip, 

killing two Israeli soldiers, wounding four, and kidnapping one; 

Whereas Israel in response launched a military assault on 

Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip in an effort to secure 

the captured soldier’s release, resulting in extensive infrastructure damage and substantial Palestinian casualties; 

Whereas Hamas rockets also struck parts of Israel, including 

the southern city of Ashkelon; 

Whereas on July 12, 2006, Hezbollah forces crossed the 

international border from Lebanon into northwestern 


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•HRES 954 IH 

Israel and attacked two Israeli vehicles, killing three and 

kidnapping two soldiers; 

Whereas Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah have engaged in an 

escalating series of air strikes and rocket attacks that 

have resulted in severe physical damage and have caused 

Israeli, Lebanese, and Palestinian casualties; 

Whereas the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and several Arab governments are now engaged in diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing Middle 

East crisis; 

Whereas the support of Hezbollah and Hamas by Iran and 

Syria complicates those efforts; 

Whereas although there have been repeated peace initiatives 

for more than 58 years, including Camp David, the Madrid Conference, the Oslo Accords, Wye River, and the 

Roadmap (of the Quartet—the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and the Russian Federation), the process has been frought with lost opportunities and leadership lapses; 

Whereas history has demonstrated that the Middle East region is likely to lurch from crisis to crisis without sustained diplomatic and economic engagement by the 

United States; 

Whereas leaders of the Group of Eight (G–8) countries in St. 

Petersburg, Russia agreed on July 16, 2006, that ‘‘the 

immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces 

to destabilize the region,’’ that ‘‘the root cause of the 

problems in the region is the absence of a comprehensive 

Middle East peace,’’ that there should be ‘‘an end to terrorist attacks against Israel,’’ and that there should be 


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•HRES 954 IH 

a ‘‘resumption of dialogue between Palestinian and 

Israeli political officials’’; and 

Whereas President George W. Bush as recently as July 22, 

2006, pledged that the United States will ‘‘continue to 

seek a return to the road map for peace in the Middle 

East’’ that includes ‘‘establishing a viable democratic 

Palestinian state’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that the President should appoint a Special 

3 Envoy for Middle East Peace. 

Æ 


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