H. Res. 531
In the House of Representatives, U.S.,
July 17, 2000.
Whereas on July 18, 1994, 86 innocent human beings were
killed and 300 were wounded when the AMIA Jewish
Community Center was bombed in Buenos Aires, Argen-
tina;
Whereas the United States welcomes Argentine President
Fernando de la Rua’s political will to pursue the inves-
tigation of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community
Center to its ultimate conclusion;
Whereas circumstantial evidence attributes the attack to the
terrorist group Hezbollah, based in Lebanon and spon-
sored by Iran;
Whereas evidence indicates that this bombing could not have
been carried out without local assistance from elements
of the Argentine security forces, some of which are re-
ported to be sympathetic to anti-Semitic positions and to
have participated in the desecration of Jewish cemeteries
in recent years;
Whereas additional evidence indicates that the tri-border area
where Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil meet, and which
is known to be rife with terrorist activity as well as drug
and arms smuggling, was used to channel resources for
the purpose of carrying out the bombing attack;
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Whereas the 6 years since the bombing have been marked by
efforts to minimize the involvement of these Argentine se-
curity elements;
Whereas Argentine officials have acknowledged that there
was negligence in the initial phases of the investigation
and that the institutional and political conditions must be
created to advance the investigation of this terrorist at-
tack;
Whereas failure to duly punish the culprits of this act serves
merely to reward these terrorists and help spread the
scourge of terrorism throughout the Western Hemi-
sphere;
Whereas the democratic leaders of the Western Hemisphere
issued mandates at the 1994 and 1998 Summits of the
Americas that they condemn terrorism in all its forms
and that they will, using all legal means, combat terrorist
acts anywhere in the Americas with unity and vigor;
Whereas the Government of Argentina supports the 1996
Declaration of Lima To Prevent, Combat and Eliminate
Terrorism, which refers to terrorism as a serious form of
organized and systematic violence that is intended to gen-
erate chaos and fear among the population, results in
death and destruction, and is a reprehensible criminal ac-
tivity, as well as the 1998 Commitment of Mar del Plata
which calls terrorist acts serious common crimes that
erode peaceful and civilized coexistence, affect the rule of
law and the exercise of democracy, and endanger the sta-
bility of democratically elected constitutional governments
and the socioeconomic development of our countries;
Whereas the Government of Argentina was successful in en-
acting a law on cooperation from defendants in terrorist
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(5) encourages the President to direct United
States law enforcement agencies to provide support and
cooperation to the Government of Argentina, if re-
quested, for purposes of the investigation into this bomb-
ing and terrorist activities in the tri-border area; and
(6) desires a lasting, warm relationship between the
United States and Argentina built on mutual abhorrence
of terrorism and commitments to peace, stability, and
democracy in the Western Hemisphere.
Attest:
Clerk.