III 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 613 

Urging the governments of Europe and the European Union to designate 

Hizballah as a terrorist organization and impose sanctions, and urging 

the President to provide information about Hizballah to the European 

allies of the United States and to support to the Government of Bulgaria 

in investigating the July 18, 2012, terrorist attack in Burgas. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 11, 2012 

Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. CASEY, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. 

RUBIO, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. WICKER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. NELSON

of Florida, Mr. INHOFE, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

KIRK, Mr. TESTER, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. 

CHAMBLISS, Mr. GRAHAM, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KYL, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. BURR, 

Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. JOHANNS, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. CORNYN, 

Mr. COONS, Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts, Mr. FRANKEN, Ms. AYOTTE, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. COATS, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. LEE, Ms. MIKULSKI, 

Mr. MORAN, Mrs. MCCASKILL, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. PORTMAN, 

Mr. BEGICH, Mr. MCCAIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. THUNE, Mr. MCCONNELL, 

Mr. BENNET, Mr. ENZI, and Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota) submitted 

the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 

Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Urging the governments of Europe and the European Union 

to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization and 

impose sanctions, and urging the President to provide 

information about Hizballah to the European allies of 

the United States and to support to the Government 


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of Bulgaria in investigating the July 18, 2012, terrorist 

attack in Burgas. 

Whereas the Department of State has designated Hizballah 

as a foreign terrorist organization since October 1997; 

Whereas the United States Government designated Hizballah 

a specially designated terrorist organization in January 

1995 and a ‘‘Specially Designated Global Terrorist’’ pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (66 Fed. Reg. 49079) 

in October 2001; 

Whereas Hizballah was established in 1982 through the direct sponsorship and support of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and continues 

to receive training, weapons, and explosives, as well as 

political, diplomatic, monetary, and organizational aid, 

from Iran; 

Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in multiple acts of 

terrorism over the past 30 years, including the bombings 

in Lebanon in 1983 of the United States Embassy, the 

United States Marine barracks, and the French Army 

barracks, the airline hijackings and the kidnapping of 

European, American, and other Western hostages in the 

1980s and 1990s, and support of the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans in 1996; 

Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on Terrorism issued by the Department of State, ‘‘Since at least 

2004, Hizballah has provided training to select Iraqi Shia 

militants, including on the construction and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that can penetrate heavilyarmored vehicles.’’; 

Whereas, in 2007, a senior Hizballah operative, Ali Mussa 

Daqduq, was captured in Iraq with detailed documents 


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that discussed tactics to attack Iraqi and coalition forces, 

and has been directly implicated in a terrorist attack that 

resulted in the murder of 5 members of the United 

States Armed Forces; 

Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in the terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the Israeli Embassy 

in 1992 and the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association 

in 1994; 

Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in acts of terrorism 

and extrajudicial violence in Lebanon, including the assassination of political opponents; 

Whereas, in June 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, an 

international tribunal for the prosecution of those responsible for the February 14, 2005, assassination of former 

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, issued arrest warrants against 4 senior Hizballah members, including its 

top military commander, Mustafa Badr al-Din, identified 

as the primary suspect in the assassination; 

Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on Terrorism issued by the Department of State, Hizballah is 

‘‘the likely perpetrator’’ of 2 bomb attacks that wounded 

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) 

peacekeepers in Lebanon during 2011; 

Whereas, according to the October 18, 2012, report of the 

Secretary-General of the United Nations to the United 

Nations Security Council on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004) (in this preamble referred to as the ‘‘October 18 Report’’), ‘‘The maintenance by Hizbullah of sizeable sophisticated military capabilities outside the control of the Government of Lebanon . . . creates an atmosphere of intimidation in the 


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country[,] . . . puts Lebanon in violation of its obligations under Resolution 1559 (2004)[,] and constitutes a 

threat to regional peace and stability.’’; 

Whereas John Brennan, Assistant to the President for 

Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, stated on October 26, 2012, that Hizballah’s ‘‘social and political activities must not obscure [its] true nature or prevent us 

from seeing it for what it is—an international terrorist 

organization actively supported by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Quds Force’’; 

Whereas David Cohen, Under Secretary of the Treasury for 

Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated on August 

10, 2012, ‘‘Before al Qaeda’s attack on the U.S. on September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible for killing 

more Americans in terrorist attacks than any other terrorist group.’’; 

Whereas, according to a September 13, 2012, Department of 

the Treasury press release, ‘‘The last year has witnessed 

Hizballah’s most aggressive terrorist plotting outside the 

Middle East since the 1990s.’’; 

Whereas, since 2011, Hizballah has been implicated in 

thwarted terrorist plots in Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Thailand, 

and elsewhere; 

Whereas, on July 18, 2012, a suicide bomber attacked a bus 

in Burgas, Bulgaria, murdering 5 Israeli tourists and the 

Bulgarian bus driver in a terrorist attack that, according 

to Mr. Brennan, ‘‘bore the hallmarks of a Hizballah attack’’; 

Whereas Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has 

stated of the Burgas terrorist attack, ‘‘We have unquesVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:38 Dec 11, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR613.IS SR613

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tionable, fully substantiated evidence that this was done 

by Hizballah backed by Iran.’’; 

Whereas Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and 

a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 

(NATO); 

Whereas, according to the October 18 Report, ‘‘There have 

been credible reports suggesting involvement by 

Hizbullah and other Lebanese political forces in support 

of the parties in the conflict in Syria. . . . Such militant 

activities by Hizbullah in Syria contradict and undermine 

the disassociation policy of the Government of Lebanon, 

of which Hizbullah is a coalition member.’’; 

Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated, ‘‘We 

have seen Hizballah training militants in Yemen and 

Syria, where it continues to provide material support to 

the regime of Bashar al Assad, in part to preserve its 

weapon supply lines.’’; 

Whereas, on August 10, 2012, the Department of the Treasury designated Hizballah pursuant to Executive Order 

13582 (76 Fed. Reg. 52209), which targets those responsible for human rights abuses in Syria, for providing support to the Government of Syria; 

Whereas, according to the Department of the Treasury, since 

early 2011, Hizballah ‘‘has provided training, advice and 

extensive logistical support to the Government of Syria’s 

increasingly ruthless effort to fight against the opposition’’ and has ‘‘directly trained Syrian government personnel inside Syria and has facilitated the training of 

Syrian forces by Iran’s terrorism arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force’’; 


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Whereas, on September 13, 2012, the Department of the 

Treasury designated the Secretary-General of Hizballah, 

Hasan Nasrallah, for overseeing ‘‘Hizballah’s efforts to 

help the Syrian regime’s violent crackdown on the Syrian 

civilian population’’; 

Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated, ‘‘Even 

in Europe, many countries . . . have not yet designated 

Hizballah as a terrorist organization. Nor has the European Union. Let me be clear: failure to designate 

Hizballah as a terrorist organization makes it harder to 

defend our countries and protect our citizens. As a result, 

for example, countries that have arrested Hizballah suspects for plotting in Europe have been unable to prosecute them on terrorism charges.’’; and 

Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan called on the 

European Union to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization, saying, ‘‘European nations are our most sophisticated and important counterterrorism partners, and 

together we must make it clear that we will not tolerate 

Hizballah’s criminal and terrorist activities.’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) urges the governments of Europe and the 

3 European Union to designate Hizballah as a ter4 rorist organization so that Hizballah cannot use the 

5 territories of the European Union for fundraising, 

6 recruitment, financing, logistical support, training, 

7 and propaganda; 

8 (2) urges the governments of Europe and the 

9 European Union to impose sanctions on Hizballah 


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1 for providing material support to Bashar al Assad’s 

2 ongoing campaign of violent repression against the 

3 people of Syria; 

4 (3) expresses support for the Government of 

5 Bulgaria as it conducts an investigation into the 

6 July 18, 2012, terrorist attack in Burgas, and ex7 presses hope that the investigation can be success8 fully concluded and that the perpetrators can be 

9 identified as quickly as possible; 

10 (4) urges the President to provide all necessary 

11 diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement sup12 port to the Government of Bulgaria to investigate 

13 the July 18, 2012, terrorist attack in Burgas; 

14 (5) reaffirms support for the Government of 

15 Bulgaria by the United States as a member of the 

16 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and 

17 urges the United States, NATO, and the European 

18 Union to work with the Government of Bulgaria to 

19 safeguard its territory and citizens from the threat 

20 of terrorism; and 

21 (6) urges the President to make available to 

22 European allies and the European public informa23 tion about Hizballah’s terrorist activities and mateVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:38 Dec 11, 2012 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR613.IS SR613

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1 rial support to Bashar al Assad’s campaign of vio2 lence in Syria. 

Æ 


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