IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 149
Condemning terror attacks in Israel.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 7, 1996
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. LANTOS, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BARRETT of
Wisconsin, Mr. BATEMAN, Mr. BEILENSON, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BEREU-
TER, Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. BLILEY, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. BORSKI, Mr.
BROWN of Ohio, Mr. CANADY of Florida, Mr. COYNE, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr.
DOYLE, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DORNAN, Ms. DUNN of Washington, Mr.
DURBIN, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. FORBES, Mr.
FOX of Pennsylvania, Mr. FRANKS of Connecticut, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN,
Mr. FRISA, Mr. FROST, Mr. GORDON, Mr. GREENWOOD, Mr. GUNDER-
SON, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr.
HOSTETTLER, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HUTCHINSON, Mrs. KENNELLY, Mr.
KING, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. KLUG, Mr. LAZIO
of New York, Mr.
LOBIONDO, Mr. LONGLEY, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MATSUI, Mr. MCCOLLUM,
Mr. MCDADE, Mr. MCINNIS, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. METCALF, Mrs. MEYERS
of Kansas, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. NEAL
of Massachusetts, Mr.
NETHERCUTT, Mr. OLVER, Mr. ORTON, Mr. PAYNE of Virginia, Ms.
PRYCE, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. SALMON, Mr. SANFORD, Mr.
SAXTON, Mr. SAWYER, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. SHAW, Mr.
SMITH of Texas, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. TEJEDA, Mr. UNDERWOOD, Mr.
CHABOT, Mrs. MEEK of Florida, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BUNN of Oregon,
Mr. KIM, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. TORKILDSEN, and Mr. TORRICELLI)
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning terror attacks in Israel.
HCON 149 IH
Whereas, on February 25, 1996, two vicious terror attacks in
Jerusalem and Ashkelon killed two American citizens and
25 Israelis, and wounded over 75 more;
Whereas, on February 26, 1996, an Israeli citizen was killed
and 22 Israelis were injured when a terrorist drove a
rental car into a Jerusalem bus stop;
Whereas, on March 3, 1996, a suicide bus bombing in Jeru-
salem took the lives of 18 innocent Israelis and other in-
dividuals and injured 10 more;
Whereas, on March 4, 1996, yet another heinous explosion by
a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv murdered at least 13 and
wounded 130 more;
Whereas the Gaza-based Hamas terror group claimed respon-
sibility for the most recent bombings, and the Damascus-
based Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine terror groups have claimed re-
sponsibility for the majority of terror attacks since the
signing of the Declaration of Principles;
Whereas these successive incidents represent an unprece-
dented escalation by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic
Jihad of their terrorist campaign designed to cause maxi-
mum carnage against the peaceful civilian population of
Israel, including children, women and the elderly;
Whereas these terrorist attacks are aimed not only at inno-
cent Israeli civilians but also at destroying the Middle
East peace process;
Whereas, since the signing of the Declaration of Principles
between Israel and the PLO on September 13, 1993,
nearly 200 people, including 5 American citizens, have
been killed in terrorist acts;
HCON 149 IH
Whereas the Palestine Liberation Organization, the Palestin-
ian Authority and Yasser Arafat have been ineffective
and unsuccessful in completely rooting out the vicious
terrorist elements from Palestinian controlled areas, call-
ing into question their commitment to the peace process;
Whereas the vast majority of Palestinian terror suspects have
not been apprehended, or if apprehended, not tried or
punished, and no terror suspects requested for transfer
have been transferred to Israeli authorities by Palestinian
authorities in direct contravention of agreements signed
between the PLO and Israel;
Whereas the hateful language calling for Israel’s destruction,
that remains an integral part of the Palestinian National
Covenant only serves to incite those opposed to the peace
process;
Whereas the Palestinian National Covenant has not yet been
amended, despite commitments by the PLO to do so;
Whereas these failures undermine and threaten the peace
process as well as continued U.S. financial assistance;
Whereas the Governments of Iran and Syria continue to pro-
vide safe haven, financial support, and arms to terror
groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or Hizbollah
among others, and have in no way acted to restrain these
groups from committing acts of terrorism; and
Whereas failure to act against terrorists by the Palestinian
Authority, Iran, Syria, and others only undermines the
credibility of the peace process: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
HCON 149 IH
(1) condemns and reviles in the strongest terms
the attacks in Jerusalem, Ashkelon and Tel Aviv;
(2) extends condolences to the families of all
those killed, and to the Government and all the peo-
ple of the State of Israel;
(3) expresses its support and solidarity with the
people and Government of the State of Israel;
(4) reaffirms its full support for Israel in its ef-
forts to combat terrorism as it attempts to pursue
peace with its neighbors in the region;
(5) calls upon the Palestinian Authority, the
elected Palestinian Council and Chairman Arafat to
act swiftly and decisively to apprehend and effec-
tively punish the perpetrators of terror attacks, to
prevent such acts of terror in the future, to con-
fiscate all unauthorized weapons and to avoid and
condemn all statements and gestures which signal
tolerance for such acts and their perpetrators;
(6) calls upon Chairman Arafat, the Palestinian
Authority and the elected representatives of the Pal-
estinian Council to eliminate the terrorist structure
and terrorist activities of Hamas, Palestinian Is-
lamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine, and all other terror groups;
HCON 149 IH
(7) calls upon Chairman Arafat, the Palestinian
Authority and the elected representatives of the Pal-
estinian Council to adopt legislative and executive
measures to ban the existence and operations of all
terrorist organizations resident in the Palestinian
autonomous areas;
(8) insists that Chairman Arafat ensure the
timely inauguration of the Palestinian Council, so
that the Palestinian National Covenant will be
amended of its vile references to Israel within sixty
days of the Council’s inauguration;
(9) reaffirms its belief that the Palestinian Na-
tional Covenant must be amended in order for the
peace process to succeed;
(10) calls upon the Palestinian people to sup-
port the deletion of anti-Israel language from the
Palestinian National Covenant;
(11) calls upon the Palestinian people to ex-
press their revulsion for terrorism against Israel,
and condemn and isolate those elements of Palestin-
ian society that employ and support such terrorist
acts;
(12) urges all parties to the peace process, in
order to retain the credibility of their commitment to
peace, to bring to justice the perpetrators of acts of
HCON 149 IH
terrorism, and to cease harboring, financing, and
arming terror groups in all territories under their
control; and
(13) calls upon those Arab states that have
failed to condemn these acts of terrorism to do so
immediately and forthrightly, and to support all ef-
forts in the region to combat terrorism;
(14) calls upon the international community to
cooperate with the United States in isolating states
which engage in international terrorism;
(15) insists that Iran and Syria case all support
for all terrorist groups operating in areas under
their control and refrain from all activities in opposi-
tion to the Middle East peace process;
(16) expresses its intent to reconsider United
States assistance to the Palestinian Authority, in
consultation with the Administration, in light of the
steps that must be taken by the Palestinian Author-
ity against terrorist infrastructures and operations;
(17) urges the Clinton administration to act de-
cisively and swiftly against those who continue to
harbor, arm, or finance terror groups seeking to un-
dermine the peace process; and
HCON 149 IH
(18) praises efforts to provide Israel with all
appropriate antiterrorism resources to eliminate the
tide of terrorist incidents against Israel.
Æ