[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 426 Introduced in House (IH)]







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. Bereuter, 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. Rohrabacher, Mr. Salmon, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, 
Mr. Sisisky, 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 referred 
              to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
              Concerning the violence in the Middle East.

Whereas the Arab-Israeli conflict must be resolved by peaceful negotiation;
Whereas since 1993 Israel and the Palestinians have been engaged in intensive 
        negotiations over the future of the West Bank and Gaza;
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 recognition 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 
        Authority;
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 Palestinians 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 expressed 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;
Whereas perceived provocations must only be addressed at the negotiating table;
Whereas it is only through negotiations, and not through violence, that the 
        Palestinians can hope to achieve their political aspirations;
Whereas even in the face of the desecration of Joseph's Tomb, a Jewish holy site 
        in the West Bank, the Government 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 encouraged 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 encouraging 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 refrain from 
        any exhortations to public incitement, urges the Palestinian 
        leadership to vigorously use its security forces to act 
        immediately to stop all violence, to show respect for all holy 
        sites, and to settle all grievances through negotiations;
            (4) commends successive Administrations on their continuing 
        efforts to achieve peace in the Middle 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 uncontrolled violence in the areas controlled by 
        the Palestinian Authority; and
            (6) calls on all parties involved in the Middle East 
        conflict to make all possible efforts to reinvigorate the peace 
        process in order to prevent further senseless loss of life by 
        all sides.
                                 <all>