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[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 392 Introduced in House (IH)]

107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 392

   Expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 18, 2002

   Mr. DeLay (for himself, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Gilman, Mr. 
 Frost, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Reynolds, Mrs. Lowey, Mr. Cantor, 
Mr. Waxman, Mr. Berman, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Engel, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Berkley, 
Mr. Schiff, Mr. Deutsch, Mr. Nadler, and Ms. Schakowsky) submitted the 
     following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
   Expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism.

Whereas the United States and Israel are now engaged in a common struggle 
        against terrorism and are on the front-lines of a conflict thrust upon 
        them against their will;
Whereas hundreds of innocent Israelis and Palestinians have died tragically in 
        violence since September 2000;
Whereas Palestinian organizations are engaging in an organized, systematic, and 
        deliberate campaign of terror aimed at inflicting as many casualties as 
        possible on the Israeli population, including through the use of suicide 
        terrorist attacks;
Whereas the number of Israelis killed during that time by suicide terrorist 
        attacks alone, on a basis proportional to the United States population, 
        is approximately 9,000, three times the number killed in the terrorist 
        attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001;
Whereas Yasir Arafat and members of the Palestinian leadership have failed to 
        abide by their commitments to nonviolence made in the Israel-PLO 
        Declaration of Principles (the ``Oslo accord'') of September 1993, 
        including their pledges (1) to adhere strictly to ``a peaceful 
        resolution of the conflict,'' (2) to resolve ``all outstanding issues 
        relating to permanent status through negotiations,'' (3) to renounce 
        ``the use of terrorism and other acts of violence,'' and (4) to ``assume 
        responsibility over all PLO elements and personnel in order to assure 
        their compliance [with the commitment to nonviolence], prevent violence, 
        and discipline violators'';
Whereas the continued terrorism and incitement committed, supported, and 
        coordinated by official arms of the Palestinian Authority are a direct 
        violation of these commitments;
Whereas forces directly under Yasir Arafat's control--particularly, the al-Aqsa 
        Martyrs Brigades, which is part of Arafat's Fatah organization and has 
        been designated a ``Foreign Terrorist Organization'' by the United 
        States government--have murdered scores of innocent Israelis;
Whereas Yasir Arafat was directly involved in the Palestinian Authority's 
        thwarted attempt to obtain 50 tons of offensive weapons shipped from 
        Iran in the Karine-A, an effort that irrefutably proved Arafat's embrace 
        of the use and escalation of violence;
Whereas documents seized by Israel from offices of the Palestinian Authority 
        demonstrate the crucial financial support the Palestinian Authority 
        continues to provide for terrorist acts, including suicide bombers;
Whereas the recent escalation of Palestinian attacks, killing 46 Israelis during 
        the week of Passover, included a heinous suicide-bombing at a religious 
        ceremony which killed 27 and wounded more than a hundred, many 
        critically, and was perpetrated by a known terrorist whom Israel had 
        previously asked Yasir Arafat to arrest;
Whereas this suicide attack occurred at the very time United States envoy 
        General Anthony Zinni was attempting to negotiate a cease-fire that 
        would lead to the resumption of Israeli-Palestinians political 
        negotiations;
Whereas, just before the Passover attack, Israel had agreed to General Zinni's 
        cease-fire proposals, whereas Yasir Arafat rejected them;
Whereas Yasir Arafat continues to incite terror by, for example, saying of the 
        Passover suicide bomber, ``Oh God, give me a martyrdom like this'';
Whereas Yasir Arafat and the PLO have a long history of making and breaking 
        anti-terrorism pledges;
Whereas President George W. Bush declared at a joint session of Congress on 
        September 20, 2001, that ``[f]rom this day forward, any nation that 
        continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United 
        States as a hostile regime'';
Whereas President Bush recently stated that he ``fully understands Israel's need 
        to defend herself'' and that he ``respect(s)'' the fact that Israelis 
        have ``seen a wave of suicide bombers coming to the heart of their 
        cities and killing innocent people'';
Whereas President Bush, in his speech of April 4, 2002, stated that ``the 
        situation in which he [Arafat] finds himself today is largely of his own 
        making''; that Arafat ``missed his opportunities, and thereby betrayed 
        the hopes of the people he's supposed to lead''; and that, ``[g]iven his 
        [Arafat's] failure, the Israeli government feels it must strike at 
        terrorist networks that are killing its citizens'';
Whereas Israel's military operations are an effort to defend itself against the 
        unspeakable horrors of ongoing terrorism and are aimed only at 
        dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas, an 
        obligation Arafat himself undertook but failed to carry out; and
Whereas Israel has made clear its intention to withdraw from Palestinian areas 
        and has already begun to do so: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) stands in solidarity with Israel as it takes necessary 
        steps to provide security to its people by dismantling the 
        terrorist infrastructure in the Palestinian areas;
            (2) remains committed to Israel's right to self-defense and 
        supports additional United States assistance to help Israel 
        defend itself;
            (3) condemns the recent wave of Palestinian suicide 
        bombings;
            (4) condemns the ongoing support and coordination of terror 
        by Yasir Arafat and other members of the Palestinian 
        leadership;
            (5) demands that the Palestinian Authority at last fulfill 
        its commitment to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure in the 
        Palestinian areas, including any such infrastructure associated 
        with PLO and Palestinian Authority entities tied directly to 
        Yasir Arafat;
            (6) is gravely concerned that Arafat's actions are not 
        those of a viable partner for peace;
            (7) urges all Arab states to declare their unqualified 
        opposition to all forms of terrorism, particularly suicide 
        bombing;
            (8) commends the President for his leadership in addressing 
        the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly the efforts of 
        the Administration to engage countries throughout the region to 
        condemn and prevent terrorism and to prevent a widening of the 
        conflict; and
            (9) urges all parties in the region to pursue vigorously 
        efforts to establish a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace 
        in the Middle East.
                                 <all>
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