IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 190
Urging the Government of Syria to withdraw its armed forces from Lebanon.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 19, 1996
Mr. ENGEL (for himself, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BERMAN, Mr.
BURTON of Indiana, Mr. CHABOT, Mr. DEUTSCH, Mr. DORNAN, Mr.
FORBES, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. GEJDENSON, Mr. HASTINGS
of Florida, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KING, Mr. KNOLLENBERG, Mr. LAHOOD,
Mr. LANTOS, Mr. LEVIN, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCNULTY,
Ms. MOLINARI, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. SAXTON, and Mr. TORRICELLI)
submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Urging the Government of Syria to withdraw its armed forces
from Lebanon.
Whereas Syria continues to exert undue influence upon the
Government of Lebanon, maintaining between 35,000
and 40,000 soldiers in Lebanon;
Whereas Syria has pledged publicly and privately to abide by
the Taif Agreement of 1989, which required that 2 years
after certain Lebanese political conditions were achieved
in September 1990, Syria would withdraw its armed
forces stationed in Lebanon to the gateway of the Bekaa
Valley with complete withdrawal occurring shortly there-
after;
•HCON 190 IH
Whereas in Senate Concurrent Resolution 129 and House
Concurrent Resolution 339 of the 102d Congress, Con-
gress called upon Syria to withdraw its armed forces to
the gateway of the Bekaa Valley by September 1992 in
accordance with the Taif Agreement of 1989, as a prel-
ude to complete withdrawal from Lebanon;
Whereas in Senate Concurrent Resolution 28 of the 103d
Congress, the Senate strongly urged Syria to withdraw
its armed forces to the gateway of the Bekaa Valley with-
out further delay and called upon the Governments of
Syria and Lebanon to agree immediately upon a firm
timetable for the complete withdrawal of Syrian armed
forces, including military, paramilitary, and security serv-
ices from Lebanon;
Whereas in Senate Concurrent Resolution 28 of the 103d
Congress, the Senate called upon the Governments of
Syria and Lebanon to disarm nongovernmental armed
groups and militias in Lebanon, as required by the Taif
Agreement;
Whereas nongovernmental armed groups and militias con-
tinue to operate in Lebanon with the acquiescence and
support of the Syrian and Lebanese Governments;
Whereas recent attacks upon northern Israel were carried out
by Hizbollah, a group based in Lebanon and receiving
support from and through Damascus;
Whereas Syria did not attend the March 13, 1996, anti-ter-
rorism Summit of the Peacemakers in Sharm el Sheikh,
Egypt, and has not participated in subsequent meetings;
Whereas the Government of Syria is currently prohibited by
law from receiving United States assistance;
•HCON 190 IH
Whereas the Lebanese elections of September 1992 were held
in a climate of heavy foreign military and political domi-
nation and due to widespread electoral irregularities and
a boycott by a large percentage of the Lebanese people,
the results of the elections were not representative of the
full spectrum of the Lebanese body politic;
Whereas, according to the Lebanese constitution, new elec-
tions for the Lebanese Parliament must take place be-
tween August 15, 1996, and October 15, 1996; and
Whereas Syria exerted undue pressure upon the Lebanese
Parliament, forcing it to use extra-constitutional means
to extend the term of President Hrawi: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) expresses its continued support for the res-
toration of sovereignty, political independence, and
territorial integrity of Lebanon;
(2) offers condolences to the families of Leba-
nese and Israeli civilians who died in recent violence
and supports the ceasefire ending fighting in south-
ern Lebanon;
(3) considers the Government of Syria in viola-
tion of its pledge to uphold the Taif Agreement of
1989 because it has not withdrawn its armed forces
from Lebanon;
(4) considers the Syrian troops in Lebanon an
occupation force;
•HCON 190 IH
(5) demands that the Government of Syria im-
mediately declare its commitment to completely
withdraw its armed forces, including military, para-
military, and security services from Lebanon, and
set a firm timetable for such withdrawal, to be com-
pleted not later than December 31, 1997;
(6) recognizes the public Israeli commitment to
withdraw its armed forces from the ‘‘security zone’’
in southern Lebanon once security conditions per-
mit;
(7) will not accept Syria’s continued hegemony
over Lebanon and rejects linking the Syrian pres-
ence there to Israeli-Syrian negotiations or to an Is-
raeli-Syrian peace agreement;
(8) while reaffirming the continued applicability
of all existing prohibitions, restrictions, limitations,
and directives that otherwise apply to Syria—
(A) urges the President to withhold any
future United States assistance to Syria until
Syria withdraws its armed forces from Leb-
anon; and
(B) urges the President to direct United
States executive directors of all international fi-
nancial institutions, such as the International
Monetary Fund and the International Bank for
•HCON 190 IH
Reconstruction and Development, to oppose fu-
ture loans or assistance to Syria until Syria
withdraws its armed forces from Lebanon;
(9) strongly urges the Government of Syria to
cooperate with ongoing international efforts to curb
terrorism and holds the Government of Syria respon-
sible for all terrorist acts planned, trained for, fi-
nanced, or initiated in Syria or Lebanese territories
under its occupation;
(10) demands that Syria prevent Hizbollah and
other terrorist groups from launching attacks on Is-
rael from areas of Lebanon under its occupation;
(11) urges the Government of Lebanon to initi-
ate serious negotiations with the Government of
Syria for the withdrawal of Syrian armed forces
from Lebanon, the disarming of all remaining non-
government paramilitary groups, and the redeploy-
ment of Lebanese armed forces to all areas of Leb-
anon in order to assert the sovereignty of the Leba-
nese state over all of its territory, which would then
facilitate lifting the ban on travel of United States
citizens to Lebanon;
(12) urges the Government of Lebanon to enter
into serious bilateral negotiations with the Govern-
ment of Israel in order to agree on mutual security
•HCON 190 IH
arrangements and realize a full and permanent
peace;
(13) strongly urges the Government of Lebanon
to prosecute to the full extent of the law all individ-
uals responsible for crimes against United States or
foreign diplomats and citizens;
(14) urges the Government of Lebanon to hold
the parliamentary elections on time and to ensure
that such elections are conducted in a free and fair
manner by enacting fair and uniform electoral laws,
allowing reasonable time for declaring candidacy,
permitting the timely return of expatriated or exiled
leaders wishing to participate in the elections, not
restricting freedom of speech or movement, ensuring
the neutrality of Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed
forces, and allowing international and domestic ob-
server units to monitor the elections;
(15) expresses its support for ongoing British
and French efforts to secure free and fair inter-
nationally monitored parliamentary elections in Leb-
anon and encourages similar efforts by United
States governmental and nongovernmental agencies;
(16) requests that the Secretary of State report
to the Committee on International Relations of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on
•HCON 190 IH
Foreign Relations of the Senate on the results of the
Lebanese elections and every 6 months thereafter on
Syrian efforts to withdraw its forces from Lebanon;
and
(17) requests the Secretary of State to transmit
a copy of this resolution to the Government of Leb-
anon and the Government of Syria.
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