III

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 171

Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to the second anniversary

of the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 13 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 5), 1995

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LIEBERMAN, and Mr. PELL)

submitted the following resolution; which was read twice and referred to

the Committee on Foreign Relations

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to the second

anniversary of the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles.

Whereas the Bush administration and the Clinton administration have both worked relentlessly to build on the Middle East peace process that began in Madrid in October

1991, with the goal of achieving a comprehensive, lasting

peace between Israel and all its neighbors;

Whereas on September 13, 1993, the first major breakthrough of the Madrid peace process was achieved when

Israel and the Palestinians signed the Declaration of

Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements on

the White House lawn;
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Whereas September 13, 1995, marks the second anniversary

of this important breakthrough;

Whereas the United States has pledged to support the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles through diplomatic and political efforts, the provision of assistance,

and other means;

Whereas the May 4, 1994, Cairo Agreement between Israel

and the Palestinians resulted in the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip and the Jericho area and

the establishment of a Palestinian Authority with responsibility for those areas;

Whereas Israel and the Palestinian Authority are continuing

negotiations on the redeployment of Israeli troops out of

Arab population centers in the West Bank, the expansion

of the Palestinian Authority’s jurisdiction into the areas

vacated by the Israeli army, and the convening of elections for a Palestinian council;

Whereas the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles

helped pave the way for the October 25, 1994, signing

of a full peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, which

established full diplomatic relations and pledged to resolve all future disputes by peaceful means;

Whereas the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty has resulted in

rapid normalization and unprecedented cooperation between the two nations in security, economic development,

the environment, and other areas;

Whereas the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles

helped pave the way for Israel to establish low-level diplomatic relations with Morocco and Tunisia, and to initiate

official contacts with Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain;
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Whereas the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council have

announced their decision to end all enforcement of the

secondary and tertiary boycotts of Israel;

Whereas extremists opposed to the Middle East peace process

continue to use terrorism to undermine the chances of

achieving a comprehensive peace, including on August 21,

1995, when a suicide bomber blew up a bus in Jerusalem,

killing one American and four Israeli civilians;

Whereas the issue of security and preventing acts of terrorism is and must remain of paramount importance in the

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations; and

Whereas compliance by the Palestine Liberation Organization

and the Palestinian Authority with all of their solemn

commitments is essential to the success of the peace

process: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the Senate—

2 (1) expresses its support for the Israeli-Pal3 estinian Declaration of Principles on the second an4 niversary of its historic signing;

5 (2) supports the efforts of Israel and the Pal6 estinians to conclude an agreement on implementa7 tion of the second phase of the Declaration of Prin8 ciples;

9 (3) condemns, in the strongest possible terms,

10 all acts of terrorism aimed at undermining the Is11 raeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and other tracks

12 of the Middle East peace process, and calls upon all
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1 parties to take all necessary steps to prevent such

2 acts;

3 (4) calls upon the Palestine Liberation Organi4 zation and the Palestinian Authority to comply with

5 all of their commitments;

6 (5) welcomes the progress made toward peace

7 between Israel and its neighbors;

8 (6) commends those Middle Eastern leaders

9 who have committed to resolve their differences

10 through only peaceful means;

11 (7) reiterates its belief that a comprehensive,

12 lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors is in

13 the national interest of the United States;

14 (8) encourages all participants in the Middle

15 East peace process to continue working to achieve

16 lasting peace agreements while adhering fully to all

17 commitments made and agreements reached thus

18 far;

19 (9) calls upon the Arab states to demonstrate

20 their commitment to peace by completely disman21 tling the Arab boycott of Israel in its primary, sec22 ondary, and tertiary aspects; and
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1 (10) strongly supports the Middle East peace

2 process and seeks to effect policies that will help the

3 peace process reach a successful conclusion.

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