IV
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 426
Concerning the violence in the Middle East.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 12, 2000
Mr. GILMAN (for himself, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. ARMEY, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr.
BRADY of Texas, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. BEREU-
TER, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. CANNON, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. DIAZ-
BALART, Mr. COOKSEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. CROWLEY,
Mr. EHLERS, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FRANKS of New Jersey, Mr. FRANK
of Massachusetts, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GEKAS, Mr. GILLMOR,
Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. FROST, Mrs. KELLY, Mr. HOBSON, Mr. HASTINGS
of Florida, Mr. HOEFFEL, Mr. KINGSTON, Mr. LAZIO, Mr. LANTOS, Mr.
LEACH, Mrs. LOWEY, Mrs. MORELLA, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MCCARTHY
of New York, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MICA, Mr. MALONEY of Connecticut,
Mr. NADLER, Mr. OSE, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. ROHR-
ABACHER, Mr. SALMON, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SISI-
SKY, Mrs. ROUKEMA, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. SHAW, Mr. WEINER, Mr. SMITH
of New Jersey, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. SMITH of Michigan, Mr. STEARNS, Mr.
WELDON of Pennsylvania, Mr. WELLER, Mr. WEYGAND, Mr. WYNN, and
Mr. HOLT) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Concerning the violence in the Middle East.
Whereas the Arab-Israeli conflict must be resolved by peace-
ful negotiation;
Whereas since 1993 Israel and the Palestinians have been en-
gaged in intensive negotiations over the future of the
West Bank and Gaza;
•HCON 426 IH
Whereas the United States, through its consistent support of
Israel and the cause of peace, made the current peace
process possible;
Whereas the underlying basis of those negotiations was rec-
ognition of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
by Israel in exchange for the renunciation of violence by
the PLO and its Chairman Yasser Arafat, first expressed
in a letter to then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin
dated September 9, 1993, in which Mr. Arafat stated:
‘‘[T]he PLO renounces the use of terrorism and other
acts of violence, and will assume responsibility over all
PLO elements and personnel in order to assure their
compliance, prevent violations and discipline violators.’’;
Whereas as a result of those negotiations, the Palestinians
now fully control over 40 percent of the West Bank and
Gaza, with over 95 percent of the Palestinian population
under the civil administration of the Palestinian Author-
ity;
Whereas as a result of peace negotiations, Israel turned over
control of these areas to the Palestinian Authority with
the clear understanding and expectation that the Pal-
estinians would maintain order and security there;
Whereas the Palestinian Authority, with the assistance of
Israel and the international community, created a strong
police force, almost twice the number allowed under the
Oslo Accords, specifically to maintain public order;
Whereas the Government of Israel made clear to the world
its commitment to peace at Camp David, where it ex-
pressed its readiness to take wide-ranging and painful
steps in order to bring an end to the conflict, but these
proposals were rejected by Chairman Arafat;
•HCON 426 IH
Whereas perceived provocations must only be addressed at
the negotiating table;
Whereas it is only through negotiations, and not through vio-
lence, that the Palestinians can hope to achieve their po-
litical aspirations;
Whereas even in the face of the desecration of Joseph’s
Tomb, a Jewish holy site in the West Bank, the Govern-
ment of Israel has made it clear that it will withdraw
forces from Palestinian areas if the Palestinian Authority
maintains order in those areas; and
Whereas the Palestinian leadership not only did too little for
far too long to control the violence, but in fact encour-
aged it: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) expresses its solidarity with the state and
people of Israel at this time of crisis;
(2) condemns the Palestinian leadership for en-
couraging the violence and doing so little for so long
to stop it, resulting in the senseless loss of life;
(3) calls upon the Palestinian leadership to re-
frain from any exhortations to public incitement,
urges the Palestinian leadership to vigorously use its
security forces to act immediately to stop all vio-
lence, to show respect for all holy sites, and to settle
all grievances through negotiations;
•HCON 426 IH
(4) commends successive Administrations on
their continuing efforts to achieve peace in the Mid-
dle East;
(5) urges the current Administration to use its
veto power at the United Nations Security Council
to ensure that the Security Council does not again
adopt unbalanced resolutions addressing the uncon-
trolled violence in the areas controlled by the Pales-
tinian Authority; and
(6) calls on all parties involved in the Middle
East conflict to make all possible efforts to reinvigo-
rate the peace process in order to prevent further
senseless loss of life by all sides.
Æ