[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 117 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 117

     Concerning United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/6.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 25, 1999

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

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                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
     Concerning United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-10/6.

Whereas in an Emergency Special Session, the United Nations General Assembly 
        voted on February 9, 1999, to pass Resolution ES-10/6, Illegal Israeli 
        Actions In Occupied East Jerusalem And The Rest Of The Occupied 
        Palestinian Territory, to convene for the first time in 50 years the 
        parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians 
        in Time of War;
Whereas such resolution singles out Israel for unprecedented enforcement 
        proceedings, which have never been invoked, even against governments 
        with records of massive violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention;
Whereas such resolution unfairly places full blame for the deterioration of the 
        Middle East Peace Process on Israel and dangerously politicizes the 
        Fourth Geneva Convention, which was established to address humanitarian 
        crises; and
Whereas such vote, initiated by the Arab Group at the behest of the Palestine 
        Liberation Organization (PLO), serves to prejudge and undercut direct 
        negotiations, puts added and undue pressure on Israel to influence the 
        results of those negotiations, and contravenes the written commitment 
        that Yasser Arafat gave to then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 
        that issues of permanent status would only be dealt with directly by the 
        parties: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) commends the Department of State for the vote of the 
        United States against United Nations General Assembly 
        Resolution ES-10/6 affirming that the text of such resolution 
        politicizes the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of 
        Civilians in Time of War which was primarily humanitarian in 
        nature;
            (2) urges the Department of State to continue its efforts 
        against convening and participating in the conference, which is 
        scheduled to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 15, 1999;
            (3) urges the member states of the United Nations to 
        vigorously oppose any and all efforts to manipulate the Fourth 
        Geneva Convention for the purpose of attacking Israel; and
            (4) urges United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and 
        Switzerland, which serves as the depository of the Fourth 
        Geneva Convention, to refrain from assisting in the convening 
        of the conference.
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