IV

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 175

Concerning the Arab League boycott of Israel.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

NOVEMBER 4, 1993

Mr. DEUTSCH (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SWETT, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.

SAXTON, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. CANTWELL,

Mr. WYNN, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. LEVY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr.

DIAZ-BALART, Mr. FINGERHUT, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Ms. MARGOLIESMEZVINSKY, Mr. TORKILDSEN, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. ANDREWS of New

Jersey, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. JOHNSTON of Florida, and Mr. GILMAN)

submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Foreign Affairs

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Concerning the Arab League boycott of Israel.

Whereas the signing on September 13, 1993, of the Declaration of Principles between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Government of Israel signals a new era

of cooperation in the Middle East;

Whereas a true peace in the Middle East can only be established and remain in effect if there is economic stability

and cooperation in the region;

Whereas adherence to the Arab League boycott of Israel is

a source of economic instability in the Middle East;
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Whereas the nations of the Arab League instituted a primary

boycott against Israel in 1948;

Whereas in the early 1950’s the Arab nations instituted a

secondary and tertiary boycott against the United States

and other firms because of their commercial ties to Israel;

Whereas the boycott attempts to use economic blackmail to

force United States firms to comply with boycott regulation;

Whereas the boycott was cited by the United States Trade

Representative in the 1992 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers as an ‘‘additional legal

restraint to U.S. trade in the region’’;

Whereas hundreds of United States firms have been

blacklisted and barred from doing business with nations

of the Arab League under the secondary and tertiary

boycott;

Whereas the total damage caused by the boycott is unknown

because the number of United States firms that conduct

business with Israel and have not attempted commercial

transactions with nations of the Arab League due to boycott requirements is uncertain; and

Whereas the United States has a policy of prohibiting United

States firms from providing Arab nations with the requested evidence of compliance to boycott regulation:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Anti-Boycott

3 Resolution of 1993’’.

4 SEC. 2. EXPRESSION OF CONGRESSIONAL VIEWS.

5 The Congress—

6 (1) believes the continuation of the Arab

7 League boycott of Israel will be a severe impediment

8 to the economic prosperity of all participating na9 tions and to the establishment of a lasting peace in

10 the Middle East;

11 (2) believes the secondary and tertiary boycott

12 cause substantial economic losses to United States

13 firms;

14 (3) welcomes the actions by those nations of the

15 Arab League that have begun dismantling the sec16 ondary and tertiary boycott, and urges them to con17 tinue their efforts until a complete dissolution of the

18 primary, secondary, and tertiary boycott is achieved;

19 (4) hopes that the indefinite postponement of

20 the October 24, 1993, meeting of the Central Boy21 cott Committee signals an end to the placement of

22 more United States firms on the boycott list and a

23 willingness to dismantle the boycott in its entirety;

24 (5) urges those nations that have begun to or

25 are considering dismantling all forms of the boycott

26 to publicly make such statements;
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1 (6) urges those nations that are still enforcing

2 the boycott to dismantle the boycott in all its forms

3 and to issue the necessary laws, rules, and regula4 tions to ensure that United States firms have free

5 and open access to Arab markets regardless of their

6 business relationship with Israel;

7 (7) urges those nations, in addition, to cease

8 enforcing and requiring participation in the boycott

9 in its primary, secondary, and tertiary forms;

10 (8) urges the United States Government to con11 tinue to raise the boycott as an unfair trade practice

12 in every appropriate international trade forum; and

13 (9) expresses the sense of the Congress that the

14 end of the Arab League boycott of Israel is of great

15 urgency to the United States Government and will

16 continue to be a priority issue in all bilateral rela17 tions with participating nations until its complete

18 dissolution.

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