109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 435
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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; 
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,
•HCON 435 EH 
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 Federation 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 
Federation; 
Whereas Israel acceded to the Geneva Conventions in 1951 
with a reservation specifying their intent to continue to 
use the Magen David Adom; 
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-
•HCON 435 EH 
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 Federation for the 
Magen David Adom Society; 
Whereas Congress has insisted that funds made available to 
the headquarters of the International Red Cross and Red 
Crescent Movement be contingent on a certification by 
the Secretary of State confirming that the Magen David 
Adom Society is a full participant 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 International 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-
ference of the states parties to the Geneva Conventions 
in December 2005 for the purpose of adopting a Protocol 
Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 
1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Dis-
•HCON 435 EH 
tinctive Emblem (the ‘‘Geneva Protocol III’’) 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 Geneva Protocol III, 
as well as an extremely important memorandum of un-
derstanding between 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 Geneva Protocol III adopted in Geneva in De-
cember 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 Israel’s 
full participation in the international movement; 
Whereas in June 2006 the states parties to the Geneva Con-
ventions, the national Red Cross and Red Crescent soci-
eties, the Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Societies, and the International Committee of the Red 
Cross met in Geneva to adopt rules implementing the Ge-
neva Protocol III; and 
Whereas following the June 2006 meeting in Geneva, the 
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation ac-
cepted the Magen David Adom Society as a full member: 
Now, therefore, be it
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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 Federation, 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 support that culminated in 
the Magen David Adom Society’s recent accept-
ance as a full member in the International Red 
Cross and Red Crescent Federation; 
(D) thanks the American Red Cross for its 
unwavering and unyielding insistence within the 
International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
Movement that the humanitarian principle of 
universality could not be reconciled with contin-
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ued exclusion of the Magen David Adom Soci-
ety; and 
(E) thanks the Government of Switzerland 
and officials of the International Committee of 
the Red Cross for helping to prepare the nec-
essary groundwork and carrying to completion 
the adoption of the Geneva Protocol III by the 
states parties to the Geneva Conventions and 
the rules for its implementation; and 
(2) Congress commends the President for—
(A) submitting the Geneva Protocol III 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 Geneva Protocol III. 
Passed the House of Representatives July 18, 2006. 
Attest:
Clerk.
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 435
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Congratulating Israel’s Magen David Adom Society 
for achieving full membership in the Inter-
national Red Cross and Red Crescent Federa-
tion, and for other purposes.