IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 435 
Congratulating Israel’s Magen David Adom Society for achieving full member-
ship in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 26, 2006 
Mr. ACKERMAN (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. BURTON 
of Indiana, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. 
PENCE, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. 
WEXLER, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SHERMAN, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mrs. MALONEY, 
Ms. MATSUI, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HONDA, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms. 
JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. PALLONE, Mrs. 
MCCARTHY, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. KIRK, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. SCOTT 
of Georgia) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Congratulating Israel’s Magen David Adom Society for 
achieving full membership in the International Red Cross 
and Red Crescent Movement, and for other purposes. 
Whereas international humanitarian law is, quintessentially, 
about principle, establishing standards of conduct that 
can not be breached under any circumstance, or for any 
calculation of political efficacy or utility; 
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•HCON 435 IH 
Whereas the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Movement is a worldwide institution in which all national 
Red Cross and Red Crescent societies have equal status, 
whose mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering 
wherever it may be found, without discrimination; 
Whereas the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) Soci-
ety is the national humanitarian society in the State of 
Israel and has performed heroically, aiding all in need of 
assistance, on a purely humanitarian basis, without bias, 
even those responsible for acts of horrific violence against 
Israeli civilians; 
Whereas since 1949 the Magen David Adom Society has been 
refused admission into the International Red Cross and 
Red Crescent Movement and has been relegated to ob-
server status without a vote because it has used the Red 
Shield of David, the only such national organization de-
nied membership in the Movement; 
Whereas the red cross symbol was intended as the visible ex-
pression of the neutral status enjoyed by the medical 
services of the armed forces and the protection thus con-
ferred, and there is not, and has never been, any implicit 
religious connection in the cross; 
Whereas since its establishment in 1930, the Magen David 
Adom Society, because it does not use either a red cross 
or a red crescent, has been prevented from full member-
ship in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Movement; 
Whereas Israel acceded to the Geneva Conventions in 1951 
with a reservation specifying their intent to continue to 
use the Magen David Adom; 
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•HCON 435 IH 
Whereas international consultations among nations and na-
tional Red Cross Societies ensued until 1999, when the 
International Committee of the Red Cross formally called 
for adoption of a protocol to the Geneva Conventions cre-
ating a third neutral symbol; allowing the use of either 
the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, or the third neutral 
symbol; and allowing for the third neutral symbol to be 
used in combination with other national Red Cross Soci-
ety symbols—including the Magen David Adom; 
Whereas a diplomatic conference to adopt this proposal into 
the Geneva Conventions was scheduled for October 2000, 
but was prevented by the outbreak of the second Pales-
tinian intifada; 
Whereas the United States and the American Red Cross have 
worked ceaselessly to resolve the issue of the third neu-
tral symbol and achieve full membership in the Inter-
national Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement for the 
Magen David Adom Society; 
Whereas Congress has insisted that funds made available to 
the International Committee of the Red Cross be contin-
gent on a certification by the Secretary of State con-
firming that the Magen David Adom Society is a full par-
ticipant in the activities of the International Committee 
of the Red Cross; 
Whereas the American Red Cross has stood alone among all 
the national humanitarian aid societies, and has withheld 
over $45,000,000 in dues to the Federation of the Red 
Cross and Red Crescent Societies to protest the exclusion 
of the Magen David Adom; 
Whereas the Government of Switzerland, the depositary state 
for the Geneva Conventions, convened a Diplomatic Con-
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•HCON 435 IH 
ference of the states parties to the Geneva Conventions 
in December 2005 for the purpose of adopting a Third 
Additional Protocol and rightly resisted efforts to block 
the broad international consensus in favor of resolving 
the third neutral symbol question; 
Whereas the efforts by the United States and the American 
Red Cross at the Diplomatic Conference in December 
2005 were critical to achieving both an overwhelming 
positive vote in favor of adopting the Third Additional 
Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, as well as an ex-
tremely important memorandum of understanding be-
tween the Magen David Adom and the Palestinian Red 
Crescent Society; 
Whereas sustaining international support for the adoption of 
the third neutral symbol against efforts to divert the con-
ference into unrelated political matters required extraor-
dinary diplomatic efforts by the United States and the 
American Red Cross; 
Whereas the Third Additional Protocol adopted in Geneva in 
December 2005 established the new third neutral symbol, 
the ‘‘red crystal’’ that can be used in conjunction with 
the Red Shield of David and cleared the way for Israeli 
membership in the international movement; 
Whereas in June 2006 the states parties to the Geneva Con-
ventions, the national humanitarian aid societies, the 
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 
and the International Committee of the Red Cross and 
Red Crescent met in Geneva to adopt rules implementing 
the Third Additional Protocol; and 
Whereas at the June 2006 meeting in Geneva, the Inter-
national Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement accepted 
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•HCON 435 IH 
the Magen David Adom Society as a full member: Now, 
therefore, 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That— 
(1) Congress— 
(A) commends the Magen David Adom So-
ciety for its long and distinguished record of 
providing humanitarian assistance to all those 
in need of aid, even those responsible for hei-
nous atrocities against Israeli civilians; 
(B) congratulates the Magen David Adom 
Society, and the Government and the people of 
the State of Israel, for securing full member-
ship in the International Red Cross and Red 
Crescent Movement, 57 years past due; 
(C) thanks the President, the Secretary of 
State, and United States diplomatic representa-
tives for their tireless pursuit and maintenance 
of the international consensus that culminated 
in the Magen David Adom Society’s recent ac-
ceptance as a full member in the International 
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement; 
(D) thanks the American Red Cross for its 
unwavering and unyielding insistence within the 
International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Movement that the principles of international 
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•HCON 435 IH 
humanitarian law could not be reconciled with 
continued exclusion of the Magen David Adom 
Society; and 
(E) thanks the Government of Switzerland 
and officials of the International Committee of 
the Red Cross for helping to prepare the nec-
essary consensus and carrying to completion the 
adoption of the Third Additional Protocol by 
the states parties to the Geneva Conventions 
and the rules for its implementation; and 
(2) Congress commends the President for— 
(A) submitting the Third Additional Pro-
tocol to the Geneva Conventions to the Senate 
for its advice and consent; and 
(B) pending approval by the Senate, pre-
paring for congressional consideration and en-
actment of legislation necessary to carry into ef-
fect the Third Additional Protocol to the Gene-
va Conventions. 
Æ 
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