IV 
109TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 954 
Urging the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 26, 2006 
Mr. LEACH submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on International Relations 
RESOLUTION 
Urging the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle 
East Peace. 
Whereas on June 25, 2006, members of the Hamas military 
wing attacked Israeli forces, just outside the Gaza Strip, 
killing two Israeli soldiers, wounding four, and kidnap-
ping one; 
Whereas Israel in response launched a military assault on 
Hamas operatives in the Gaza Strip in an effort to secure 
the captured soldier’s release, resulting in extensive infra-
structure damage and substantial Palestinian casualties; 
Whereas Hamas rockets also struck parts of Israel, including 
the southern city of Ashkelon; 
Whereas on July 12, 2006, Hezbollah forces crossed the 
international border from Lebanon into northwestern 
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•HRES 954 IH 
Israel and attacked two Israeli vehicles, killing three and 
kidnapping two soldiers; 
Whereas Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah have engaged in an 
escalating series of air strikes and rocket attacks that 
have resulted in severe physical damage and have caused 
Israeli, Lebanese, and Palestinian casualties; 
Whereas the United Nations, the United States, the Euro-
pean Union, and several Arab governments are now en-
gaged in diplomatic efforts to resolve the ongoing Middle 
East crisis; 
Whereas the support of Hezbollah and Hamas by Iran and 
Syria complicates those efforts; 
Whereas although there have been repeated peace initiatives 
for more than 58 years, including Camp David, the Ma-
drid Conference, the Oslo Accords, Wye River, and the 
Roadmap (of the Quartet—the United States, the Euro-
pean Union, the United Nations, and the Russian Fed-
eration), the process has been frought with lost opportu-
nities and leadership lapses; 
Whereas history has demonstrated that the Middle East re-
gion is likely to lurch from crisis to crisis without sus-
tained diplomatic and economic engagement by the 
United States; 
Whereas leaders of the Group of Eight (G–8) countries in St. 
Petersburg, Russia agreed on July 16, 2006, that ‘‘the 
immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces 
to destabilize the region,’’ that ‘‘the root cause of the 
problems in the region is the absence of a comprehensive 
Middle East peace,’’ that there should be ‘‘an end to ter-
rorist attacks against Israel,’’ and that there should be 
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•HRES 954 IH 
a ‘‘resumption of dialogue between Palestinian and 
Israeli political officials’’; and 
Whereas President George W. Bush as recently as July 22, 
2006, pledged that the United States will ‘‘continue to 
seek a return to the road map for peace in the Middle 
East’’ that includes ‘‘establishing a viable democratic 
Palestinian state’’: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the President should appoint a Special 
Envoy for Middle East Peace. 
Æ 
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