III

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 202

Concerning the ban on the use of United States passports for travel to

Lebanon.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

DECEMBER 22, 1995

Mr. ABRAHAM (for himself, Mr. SIMON, Mr. GRAHAM, and Mr. KENNEDY)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on Foreign Relations

RESOLUTION

Concerning the ban on the use of United States passports

for travel to Lebanon.

Whereas, on January 26, 1987, the Department of State issued a prohibition on the use of United States passports

for travel to Lebanon, creating a ban on travel to Lebanon by United States citizens;

Whereas the ban on travel to Lebanon was instituted during

a time of civil war, anarchy, and general lawlessness in

Lebanon, when the safety and well-being of United States

citizens were at serious risk, American hostages were

being taken, and hundreds of lives were being lost due to

acts of terrorism;
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•SRES 202 IS

Whereas the civil war in Lebanon ended in 1990 and the last

United States hostage held in Lebanon was freed on December 4, 1991;

Whereas there has been no incident of violence against any

United States citizen in Lebanon since December 4,

1991;

Whereas security in Lebanon has improved demonstrably

since the end of the civil war due to, among other efforts,

the exchange of security delegations between the United

States and Lebanon to monitor ongoing progress on security;

Whereas the United States and Lebanon have made special

joint efforts to agree upon and sign international conventions against terrorism which would address crimes committed against United States citizens in Lebanon during

the civil war;

Whereas the United States maintains an economic and military assistance program in Lebanon;

Whereas it is estimated that more than 45,000 United States

citizens, including Members of Congress, traveled safely

to Lebanon in the past 4 years, either in defiance of the

ban or under current United States regulations which

permit the use of passports by dual Lebanese-United

States nationals and in urgent humanitarian cases;

Whereas Americans of Lebanese descent who have families

residing in Lebanon and who are not willing to defy the

travel ban have been seriously harmed by this ban and

are prevented from being reunited with their loved ones

in Lebanon;

Whereas the United States has eased certain restrictions on

the travel ban to permit airline tickets to be issued di-
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•SRES 202 IS

rectly from the United States to Beirut for travel by nonUnited States nationals and United States citizens who

have obtained the appropriate waiver from the Department of State;

Whereas it is in the United States’ national interest to assist

actively the Government of Lebanon to attain the principles of democracy in the region;

Whereas the Lebanese government has initiated a 10-year,

$18,000,000,000 reconstruction effort, and in 1993–1995

awarded more than 500 contracts worth more than

$2,700,000,000 to business firms for development, reconstruction, and consulting projects;

Whereas the ban on the use of United States passports for

travel to Lebanon creates a major impediment to United

States firms that wish to bid for contracts in Lebanon;

Whereas it is in the United States national interest for

United States businesses to participate in the reconstruction of Lebanon, since United States participation will

bring economic benefit to the United States;

Whereas it is in the national interest of the United States for

there to be an independent, politically and economically

self-reliant Lebanon as a stabilizing state in the region;

Whereas in determining whether to restrict the use of United

States passports in any country, the Secretary of State

should apply consistent criteria; and

Whereas travel advisories, rather than travel bans, are in effect for countries such as Bosnia, Rwanda, Haiti, Colombia, and Peru, in which United States citizens have historically experienced as serious risk to their safety as

they do in traveling to Lebanon: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that—
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1 (1) in deciding whether to renew the ban on the

2 use of United States passports for travel to Leb3 anon, the Secretary of State should—

4 (A) expand the present humanitarian waiv5 er provisions to permit American citizens of

6 Lebanese descent to travel to Lebanon for fam7 ily reunification purposes;

8 (B) create a new waiver category to permit

9 exceptions for United States business personnel

10 who wish to travel to Lebanon for business pur11 poses; and

12 (C) change the Lebanon travel ban to a

13 travel advisory because American citizens have

14 been safely traveling there since 1991, and it

15 appears as if the risk posed to the safety of

16 American citizens is no greater in Lebanon

17 than it is in other countries that currently

18 maintain travel advisories; and

19 (2) the Secretary of State should identify those

20 conditions within Lebanon that are of risk to United

21 States citizens and provide suggestions for Lebanon

22 to ameliorate those risks.

23 SEC. 2. The Secretary of the Senate shall transmit

24 a copy of this resolution to the Secretary of State.

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