I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1372 
To clarify that it is United States policy to recognize Israel’s sovereignty 
over the Golan Heights. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 26, 2019 
Mr. GALLAGHER (for himself, Mr. MAST, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. BANKS, Ms. 
STEFANIK, Mr. COLE, Mr. MEADOWS, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. 
PERRY, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. GREEN of Tennessee, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. 
BUDD, and Mr. HICE of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committees on Ways and Means, Science, Space, and Technology, and 
Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, 
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris-
diction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To clarify that it is United States policy to recognize Israel’s 
sovereignty over the Golan Heights. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that— 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) On September 1, 1975, President Gerald 
Ford provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that 
‘‘the U.S. will support the position that an overall 
settlement with Syria in the framework of a peace 
agreement must assure Israel’s security from attack 
from the Golan Heights [and] it will give great 
weight to Israel’s position that any peace agreement 
with Syria must be predicated on Israel remaining 
on the Golan Heights’’. 
(2) In October 1991, Secretary of State James 
Baker provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that 
‘‘the United States continues to stand behind the as-
surance given by President Ford to Prime Minister 
Rabin on September 1, 1975’’. 
(3) Iran has used the war in Syria to establish 
a long-term military presence in the Levant, to at-
tack Israel from across the Golan Heights, and to 
create territorial corridors that allow it to provide 
arms to its troops and terrorist proxies. 
SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that— 
(1) Israel’s security from attacks from Syria 
and Lebanon cannot be assured without Israeli sov-
ereignty over the Golan Heights; 
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(2) in light of new realities on the ground, in-
cluding Iran’s presence in Syria— 
(A) it is unrealistic to expect that the out-
come of a peace agreement between Israel and 
Syria will be an Israeli withdrawal from the 
Golan Heights; and 
(B) it is realistic to expect that any peace 
agreement between Israel and Syria will only be 
achieved on the basis of Israel remaining on the 
Golan Heights; and 
(3) it is in the United States national security 
interest to ensure that— 
(A) Israel retains control of the Golan 
Heights; and 
(B) the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad 
faces diplomatic and geopolitical consequences 
for its killing of civilians, the ethnic cleansing 
of Arab Sunnis, and the use of weapons of 
mass destruction. 
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY. 
It shall be the policy of the United States— 
(1) to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the 
Golan Heights; and 
(2) to promote and conduct joint projects with 
Israel on the Golan Heights, including projects— 
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(A) in basic and applied scientific fields; 
(B) in industrial research and develop-
ment; and 
(C) in strategic and applied research of ag-
ricultural problems. 
SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Any reference to ‘‘Israel’’ in any existing or future 
Act of Congress relating to appropriations or foreign com-
merce, including customs and international trade, shall be 
interpreted to include the Golan Heights. 
Æ 
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