[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 325 Introduced in House (IH)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 325
Commemorating the 9th anniversary of the attack on the Argentine Jewish
Mutual Aid Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and
highlighting the attack as characteristic of the threat to the United
States from radical Islamic organizations operating from Latin America.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 18, 2003
Mr. Hastings of Florida (for himself, Mr. Ballenger, Mr. Menendez, Ms.
Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Ackerman, and Mr. Crowley) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Commemorating the 9th anniversary of the attack on the Argentine Jewish
Mutual Aid Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and
highlighting the attack as characteristic of the threat to the United
States from radical Islamic organizations operating from Latin America.
Whereas on July 18, 1994, 85 innocent people were killed and 300 were wounded
when the AMIA Jewish Community Center was bombed in Buenos Aires,
Argentina;
Whereas the attacks against the Jewish community in Argentina show the same
cowardice that the United States saw on September 11, 2001;
Whereas failure to duly punish the culprits of these acts serves to reward
terrorists and help spread terrorism throughout the Western Hemisphere;
Whereas under President Nestor Kirchner's order, 14 current and former members
of the intelligence agency will be relieved of their responsibility to
retain ``State secrecy'' in the case, and will be free to testify on the
ongoing criminal trial for the first time;
Whereas substantial evidence attributes the attack on July 18, 1994, to the
terrorist group Hizballah, based in Lebanon and sponsored by Iran;
Whereas the Argentine judge hearing the AMIA case has issued international
arrest warrants for four Iranian government officials believed to have
been involved in planning or carrying out the attack against the AMIA;
Whereas those indicted include Imad Mugniyeh, who reportedly works for Iran's
Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS) and lives in Iran; Mohsen
Rabbani, a cultural attache at the Iranian Embassy in Argentina; Barat
Ali Balesh-Abadi, an Iranian Diplomat; Ali Akbar Parvaresh, a former
education minister; and Ali Fallahian, the former MOIS minister;
Whereas evidence indicates that the tri-border region where Argentina, Paraguay,
and Brazil meet was used to channel resources for the purpose of
carrying out the AMIA attack by terrorists linked with Iran;
Whereas on March 17, 1992, terrorists bombed the Embassy of Israel in Buenos
Aires, Argentina, killing 29 persons and injuring more than 200 others,
and the Government of Argentina has not yet brought anyone to justice
for that act of terrorism;
Whereas according to the 2003 Patterns of Global Terrorism, the tri-border
region has long been depicted as a regional nucleus for fundraising
activities, arms and drug trafficking, contraband smuggling, document
and currency fraud, money laundering, and the manufacture and movement
of pirated goods by terrorists linked with Iran;
Whereas the State Department's report Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001
identifies Lebanese-based terrorist organization Hizballah, as well as
other terrorist groups, in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil, and
Paraguay, ``where terrorists raise millions of dollars annually via
criminal enterprises.'';
Whereas such report states that ``[t]here is evidence of the presence of
Hizballah members or sympathizers in other areas of Latin America as
well: In northern Chile, especially around Iquique; in Maicao, Colombia,
near the border with Venezuela; on Margarita Island in Venezuela; and in
Panama's Colon Free Trade Zone'';
Whereas agents from Argentina's intelligence agency have reported to the United
States that operatives from al-Qaida were based in the Tri-Border
region, and the agents noted that suspected terrorists had passed
through the area, among them was a member of Gammaa al-Islamiya, a
terrorist cell tied to al-Qaida;
Whereas United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage testified on
September 19, 2002, before a joint hearing on Iraq of the Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives and the
Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate that Hizballah now has a
capacity similar to al-Qaida to attack the United States and that
Hizballah is present in South America;
Whereas the State Department's annual report, Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003,
notes that while Latin America has not been the focal point in the war
on terrorism, countries in the region have struggled with domestic
terrorism for decades and international terrorist groups have at times
used the region as a battleground to advance their causes;
Whereas police in Asuncion, Paraguay, have arrested a relative of Assad Barakat,
the Chief of Hizballah in South America, with almost five pounds of
cocaine hidden in an electric piano that he allegedly intended to
smuggle into Syria;
Whereas the Caribbean is a strategic paradise for terrorist organizations, given
its established web for drugs, arms contraband, and money laundering;
Whereas the Department of State includes Cuba in its list of seven states
sponsoring terrorism and Cuba maintains close relations with countries
that sponsor terrorism and has given safe haven to members of European
terrorist groups;
Whereas terrorist organizations may be involved in money laundering as a means
of hiding their financial assets and in light of that information, as of
June 2003, several nations in the region--Guatemala, St. Vincent, and
the Grenadines--were identified by the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) as non-cooperative countries in the fight against money
laundering;
Whereas much of the Western Hemisphere, from Canada to Tierra del Fuego, is
ideal for international terrorist groups to establish bases due to the
ill equipped and poorly trained security agencies across the region;
Whereas according to the Department of State's March 2003 International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 14 nations in South America and the
Caribbean are jurisdictions of primary concern to the United States
because of their vulnerability to money laundering, while many nations
in the region are characterized as jurisdictions of concern;
Whereas the fight against terrorism must remain a top priority. Nowhere is this
more true than in America's back yard;
Whereas according to Mr. Miguel Toma, who directs the Argentine equivalent to
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ``there is a direct correlation
between terrorism here [in South America] and the United States'';
Whereas Mr. Toma has met with United States intelligence officials to discuss
the possibility of a new terrorist offensive launched from Latin
America;
Whereas al-Qaida's desire to bring the battle to the United States would make
the proximity of Latin America all the more appealing;
Whereas cooperation is indispensable for success in the war on terrorism;
Whereas it is in the best interest of the region to live up to the Declaration
by the Organization of American States on September 21, 2001,
``Individually and collectively, we will deny terrorist groups the
capacity to operate in this Hemisphere. This American family stands
United;''; and
Whereas it is the long standing policy of the United States to stand firm
against terrorist attacks wherever and whenever they occur and to work
with its allies to ensure that justice is done: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) reiterates its condemnation of the attack on the AMIA
Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina on July 18,
1994, and honors the victims of this heinous act;
(2) strongly urges the Government of Argentina to further
fulfill its international obligations and its promise to the
Argentine people by pursuing the local and international
connections to this act of terrorism, wherever it may lead, and
to properly punish all those who are involved;
(3) welcomes Argentine President Nestor Kirchner's
political will to pursue the investigation of the bombing of
the AMIA Jewish Community Center to its ultimate conclusions;
(4) calls on the President of the United States to raise
this issue in bilateral discussions with Argentine officials
and to underscore the United States concern regarding the past
delay in the resolution of this case;
(5) recommends that the President of the United States
create more mechanisms for intra-regional information sharing
and, where needed, joint counter-terrorism operations;
(6) strongly encourages the President of the United States
to provide democratic governments in South America and Central
America with the necessary financial resources as well as
equipment and training for intelligence and security forces;
(7) encourages the President of the United States to
execute his commitment vis-a-vis the Western Hemisphere to
``direct every resource at our command--every means of
diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law
enforcement; every financial influence, and every necessary
weapon of war--to the disruption and to the defeat of the
global terror network'';
(8) recommends that the United States Representative to the
Organization of American States seek support from the countries
comprising the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism to
assist, if needed, in the investigation of this terrorist
attack;
(9) desires a lasting, warm relationship between the United
States and Argentina built on mutual abhorrence of terrorism
and commitments to peace, stability, and democracy in the
Western Hemisphere;
(10) calls on all governments in the Western Hemisphere to
pursue an anti-terrorism campaign based on unity of purpose,
dedication of resources, constant vigilance, and cooperation;
(11) calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to favorably
respond to the Argentine arrest warrant for five Iranian
citizens believed to be responsible for the 1994 attack on the
AMIA; and
(12) calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to cease any and
all assistance to terrorist organizations, and to renounce to
any and all involvement with terrorism.
Sec. 2. The Secretary of the House of Representatives shall
transmit a copy of this resolution to the President, the United States
Senate, the United States Permanent Representative to the United
Nations, and the United States Permanent Representative to the
Organization of American States.
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