[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 336 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 336

 Condemning the Taliban regime and supporting a broad based government 
                            in Afghanistan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 8, 1998

  Mr. Gilman submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
          referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Condemning the Taliban regime and supporting a broad based government 
                            in Afghanistan.

Whereas the military defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, in which more 
        than 1,000,000 Afghans lost their lives, was a key contribution to the 
        ending of the Cold War;
Whereas upon the Soviet Union's withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States 
        generally lost interest in the region and Afghanistan's neighbors became 
        more influential inside Afghanistan and the various Afghan factions were 
        thus unable to form a broad-based and representative national 
        government;
Whereas in October 1994 a new force called the Taliban emerged in Afghanistan, 
        pledging itself to establish a true Islamic government, disarm all other 
        factions, eliminate narcotics cultivation, establish law and order, and 
        restore peace;
Whereas since 1994 the Taliban movement has, often through force and terror, 
        continued to expand its domination of more and more territory within 
        Afghanistan, while the movement itself has become more and more militant 
        and extreme in its actions and its interpretation of Islamic principles;
Whereas the Taliban movement, especially key members of its leadership, has 
        become increasingly associated and deeply involved with individuals and 
        groups involved in international terrorism, including, but not limited 
        to, Osama bin Ladin, who was responsible for the August 1998 attacks on 
        United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania;
Whereas those terrorist elements with which the Taliban are associated are not 
        only focused on separatist activities in Kashmir but also significantly 
        involved in anti-Western and anti-American terrorist activities;
Whereas over 95 percent of heroin produced in Afghanistan is from areas 
        controlled by the Taliban and some large portion of that heroin is sold 
        on America's streets and, in spite of United Nations crop substitution 
        program in Taliban areas, poppy cultivation and heroin trafficking have 
        increased dramatically;
Whereas linkages have been established between Afghanistan and terrorists who 
        were involved in the World Trade Center bombing, the murder of Central 
        Intelligence Agency personnel in Langley, Virginia, and the recent 
        bombings of United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania;
Whereas the inter-Afghan dialogue initiative began in early 1997 and has 
        successfully held 3 major meetings, concluding its last gathering of 
        approximately 200 Afghans in Bonn, Germany, in July 1998;
Whereas the United States launched a limited attack against terrorist bases in 
        Taliban-controlled Afghanistan on August 20, 1998;
Whereas the Taliban rule by fear and terror and systematically abuse the rights 
        of all Afghans, especially women, and are intolerant of non-Sunni Muslim 
        believers, especially Hazara, many of whom are Shiite Muslims;
Whereas the Government of Pakistan has been a vigorous defender of the Taliban's 
        activities and tens of thousands of Pakistani Taliban have linked up 
        with Afghan Taliban creating a transborder movement with growing 
        influence inside Pakistan;
Whereas reports of the persecution of Christians, Shiites, and other religious 
        minorities inside Pakistan are a growing concern to Congress;
Whereas the Central Asian States, especially Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, in 
        addition to Russia and Iran have voiced alarm at the fall of northern 
        areas of Afghanistan, where there has been almost no narcotics 
        cultivation and where all the major groups have been interested in 
        strong and close relations with the United States;
Whereas it is widely accepted in the region that the United States Department of 
        State, and consequently the United States Government, supports the 
        Taliban;
Whereas Congress has repeatedly condemned the activities of the Taliban regime 
        and urged more vigorous support for efforts to form a broad-based 
        government based on the inter-Afghan dialogue initiative, several of 
        whose members have been executed by the Taliban for no apparent crime; 
        and
Whereas there needs to be a fundamental reappraisal of overall United States 
        policy toward Afghanistan and its neighbors: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the House of Representatives and the Senate 
that--
            (1) the United States should publicly condemn the Taliban 
        regime for its reprehensible atrocities against human rights, 
        in particular womens' rights, its embrace of international 
        terrorism, and its willing integration into a worldwide 
        narcotics syndicate;
            (2) the United States should recognize that it will be 
        better served by a comprehensive regional strategy that 
        addresses Afghan issues rather than its current one that relies 
        primarily on Pakistan;
            (3) the United States should explore its mutual interest 
        regarding the danger of the Taliban with other countries of the 
        region;
            (4) the United States should not grant diplomatic 
        recognition to the Taliban or assist in any way its recognition 
        in the United Nations but rather should support the inter-
        Afghan dialogue efforts to form a truly representative broad-
        based government;
            (5) the Department of Defense should conduct a 
        vulnerability assessment of the Taliban regime;
            (6) the United States should work to initiate through the 
        United Nations Security Council a ban on all international 
        commercial air travel to and from Taliban controlled 
        Afghanistan;
            (7) the United States should call on the Taliban regime to 
        permit humanitarian supplies to be delivered without 
        interference to all regions of Afghanistan;
            (8) the United States should consider those Afghans, 
        especially known friends of the United States, fleeing 
        political persecution from the Taliban regime to be refugees 
        eligible for consideration for asylum;
            (9) the Department of State should urge the Islamic 
        Republic of Pakistan to protect the rights of Christians and 
        Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and should publish a special report 
        to Congress on the human rights situation in Pakistan, 
        especially as it affects religious minorities; and
            (10) the Department of State should report to the Congress 
        concerning whether the Taliban, which provides a safe haven for 
        Osama bin Laden and other terrorist organizations as well as 
        illicit drug monies which assist these terrorists, should be 
        added to the list of designated foreign terrorist 
        organizations.
                                 <all>