[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 285 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 285

Condemning the recent terrorist attacks in the Middle East by Hamas and 
other terrorist organizations and urging the European Union to classify 
 the entire entity of Hamas as a terrorist organization, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2003

 Mr. Deutsch (for himself, Mr. Kingston, and Mr. Lantos) submitted the 
     following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                        International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the recent terrorist attacks in the Middle East by Hamas and 
other terrorist organizations and urging the European Union to classify 
 the entire entity of Hamas as a terrorist organization, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the United States is currently engaged in a war against terrorism and 
        Secretary of State Powell has stated that ``there are no good 
        terrorists'';
Whereas on its official list of ``Terrorist Groups and Entities'', the European 
        Union currently designates only the so-called military wing of Hamas, 
        ``Izz al Din al Qassem'', and not the entire entity of Hamas;
Whereas the failure by the European Union to designate the entire entity of 
        Hamas on its official terrorist list is an obstacle to taking action 
        against the financing of terrorism;
Whereas the United States Government currently classifies the entire entity of 
        Hamas as a terrorist organization;
Whereas throughout the past decade of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, 
        Hamas and other terrorist organizations have continuously sought the 
        failure of efforts toward peace through deadly terrorist attacks against 
        civilians;
Whereas in the 107th Congress, the House of Representatives adopted House 
        Resolution 392, in which it stated that ``Hamas is engaged in an 
        organized, systematic, and deliberate campaign of terror aimed at 
        inflicting as many casualties as possible upon the Israeli population, 
        with an ultimate goal of annihilating the State of Israel'';
Whereas on June 4, 2003, President Bush stated at the peace summit in Aqaba, 
        Jordan, that ``Prime Minister Abbas now leads the Palestinian Cabinet . 
        . . [b]y his strong leadership, by building the institutions of 
        Palestinian democracy and by rejecting terror, he is serving the deepest 
        hopes of his people'';
Whereas on June 8, 2003, just days after the hopeful peace summit in Aqaba, 
        Hamas collaborated with other terrorist organizations to commit an 
        unprecedented joint terrorist operation with the clear intent of 
        thwarting any efforts toward peace;
Whereas this first-ever joint terrorist attack by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the 
        Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade killed four Israeli soldiers;
Whereas on June 11, 2003, Hamas boastfully claimed credit for orchestrating and 
        carrying out the bombing of a bus in Jerusalem which killed seventeen 
        and wounded more than 100 individuals;
Whereas after these attacks, Abdul Aziz Rantissi, Hamas leader and spokesman, 
        stated ``[t]here will be no single Jew left in Palestine . . . [w]e will 
        fight them with all the power that we have'';
Whereas even in the face of these deadly terrorist attacks by Hamas, Israel 
        still followed through with its commitment to President Bush to begin 
        dismantling illegal outposts in the West Bank;
Whereas the Federal Bureau of Investigation has discovered financial links 
        between charitable organizations and Hamas that indicate the funneling 
        of money to support terrorist activity;
Whereas Hamas is sponsoring the teaching of terrorism to Palestinian children 
        and glorifying and inciting suicide bombing;
Whereas the international community, as reflected in, inter alia, United Nations 
        Security Council Resolutions 1368, 1373, and 1377, is committed to 
        fighting terrorism as well as reaching a peaceful resolution of the 
        conflict in the Middle East;
Whereas Hamas has rejected the current United States-led attempt at peace in the 
        Middle East and reaffirmed its commitment toward the destruction of 
        Israel;
Whereas in 2003 alone, Hamas has taken credit for the murder of 55 Israeli 
        citizens;
Whereas President Bush stated that ``the free world--those who love freedom and 
        peace--must deal harshly with Hamas and the killers''; and
Whereas the European Union is holding a summit on June 20-21, 2003, in 
        Thessoloniki, Greece, at which it can take appropriate action against 
        Hamas: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the recent terrorist attacks perpetrated by 
        Hamas and other terrorist organizations that intentionally 
        sought to thwart the sincere efforts of the United States and 
        the world community to move toward peace in the Middle East at 
        the hopeful summit in Aqaba, Jordan;
            (2) urges the European Union to classify the entire entity 
        of Hamas as a terrorist organization enabling it to take 
        further action to prohibit any funding from Europe to Hamas;
            (3) urges the Palestinian Authority to combat terrorism by 
        establishing itself as the sole armed entity within the 
        Palestinian territories as soon as possible; and
            (4) stands in solidarity with Israel as it takes necessary 
        steps toward peace and toward providing security to its people.
                                 <all>