IV

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 50

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the status of the investigation

of the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 13, 1997

Mr. LANTOS (for himself, Mr. GILMAN, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.

DEUTSCH, Mr. FILNER, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. FROST, Mrs.

LOWEY, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SHERMAN, and Mr. WAXMAN) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred

to the Committee on International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the status

of the investigation of the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992.

Whereas on March 17, 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos

Aires, Argentina, a school, and several nearby buildings

were destroyed by a powerful suicide car bomb blast in

which 29 innocent children, women, and men lost their

lives and an additional 252 innocent people were injured;

Whereas the victims of this terrorist attack included employees of the Israeli embassy and their families, children

from a nearby Roman Catholic primary school, women

and men from a nearby Roman Catholic church shelter,
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a Roman Catholic priest, and people across the spectrum

of Argentine Society;

Whereas Argentina’s Jewish community, which numbers

300,000 and is the largest Jewish community in Latin

America, has suffered periods of severe anti-Semitism

during periods of military rule and feels particularly vulnerable to assault from certain radical Islamic groups

and from indigenous far right extremists in Argentina;

Whereas Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing

of the Israeli Embassy and praised the name of the alleged suicide bomber, Abu Yasser, by calling him a ‘‘martyr struggler,’’ and Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization that is supported by Iran and United States Department officials have stated that Iranian diplomats collected information to plan the bombing;

Whereas the failure of Argentine and international efforts to

bring the perpetrators of the embassy bombing to justice

made Argentina a prime target for a second devastating

terrorist attack on July 18, 1994, just two years after

the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires,

when the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA)

Jewish Community Center was destroyed in a similar car

bombing in which 86 people died and over 200 people

were injured; and

Whereas the effectiveness of the investigation of the Israeli

embassy bombing, which is being conducted by the Supreme Court of Argentina, has been hampered by the inefficiency of having the entire membership of the court

in charge of the investigation: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—
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1 (1) notes with regret that March 17, 1997,

2 marked the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the

3 Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, that it is now

4 more than two and a half years since the bombing

5 of the AMIA Jewish Community Center, and that

6 police and judicial authorities in Argentina have not

7 yet identified and initiated prosecution of the per8 petrators of these two barbarous acts of terrorism;

9 (2) urges the Supreme Court of Argentina to

10 designate a single investigative judge to conduct the

11 investigation of the terrorist bombing of the Israeli

12 Embassy in order to improve the efficiency of the in13 quiry;

14 (3) urges Argentinean judicial authorities to

15 move forward aggressively in the investigation of the

16 terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community

17 Center because of the probability that there is a con18 nection between the bombing and the bombing of the

19 Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires;

20 (4) urges Argentinean authorities to acknowl21 edge publicly the reports submitted by Argentinian,

22 United States, and Israeli experts, which determined

23 that the explosion at the Israeli Embassy took place

24 outside the walls of the embassy;
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1 (5) urges the President and appropriate execu2 tive agencies to provide all appropriate assistance

3 which has been or which may be requested by Ar4 gentinean Government authorities in order to help

5 that Government in investigating these acts of ter6 rorism; and

7 (6) directs the Clerk of the House of Represent8 atives to forward a copy of this resolution to the

9 Government of Argentina.

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