[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 435 Referred in Senate (RFS)]


109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 435


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 19, 2006

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Congratulating Israel's Magen David Adom Society for achieving full 
membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation, 
                        and for other purposes.

Whereas international humanitarian law is, quintessentially, about principle, 
        establishing standards of conduct that can not be breached under any 
        circumstance, or for any calculation of political efficacy or utility;
Whereas the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a worldwide 
        institution in which all national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies 
        have equal status,

whose mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may 
be found, without discrimination;

Whereas the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) Society is the national 
        humanitarian society in the State of Israel and has performed 
        heroically, aiding all in need of assistance, on a purely humanitarian 
        basis, without bias, even those responsible for acts of horrific 
        violence against Israeli civilians;
Whereas since 1949 the Magen David Adom Society has been refused admission into 
        the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation and has been 
        relegated to observer status without a vote because it has used the Red 
        Shield of David, the only such national organization denied membership 
        in the Movement;
Whereas the red cross symbol was intended as the visible expression of the 
        neutral status enjoyed by the medical services of the armed forces and 
        the protection thus conferred, and there is not, and has never been, any 
        implicit religious connection in the cross;
Whereas since its establishment in 1930, the Magen David Adom Society, because 
        it does not use either a red cross or a red crescent, has been prevented 
        from full membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
        Federation;
Whereas Israel acceded to the Geneva Conventions in 1951 with a reservation 
        specifying their intent to continue to use the Magen David Adom;
Whereas international consultations among nations and national Red Cross 
        Societies ensued until 1999, when the International Committee of the Red 
        Cross formally called for adoption of a protocol to the Geneva 
        Conventions creating a third neutral symbol; allowing the use of either 
        the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, or the third neutral symbol; and 
        allowing for the third neutral symbol to be used in combination with 
        other national Red Cross Society symbols--including the Magen David 
        Adom;
Whereas a diplomatic conference to adopt this proposal into the Geneva 
        Conventions was scheduled for October 2000, but was prevented by the 
        outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada;
Whereas the United States and the American Red Cross have worked ceaselessly to 
        resolve the issue of the third neutral symbol and achieve full 
        membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation 
        for the Magen David Adom Society;
Whereas Congress has insisted that funds made available to the headquarters of 
        the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement be contingent on a 
        certification by the Secretary of State confirming that the Magen David 
        Adom Society is a full participant in the activities of the 
        International Committee of the Red Cross;
Whereas the American Red Cross has stood alone among all the national 
        humanitarian aid societies, and has withheld over $45,000,000 in dues to 
        the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies 
        to protest the exclusion of the Magen David Adom;
Whereas the Government of Switzerland, the depositary state for the Geneva 
        Conventions, convened a Diplomatic Conference of the states parties to 
        the Geneva Conventions in December 2005 for the purpose of adopting a 
        Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and 
        relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem (the 
        ``Geneva Protocol III'') and rightly resisted efforts to block the broad 
        international consensus in favor of resolving the third neutral symbol 
        question;
Whereas the efforts by the United States and the American Red Cross at the 
        Diplomatic Conference in December 2005 were critical to achieving both 
        an overwhelming positive vote in favor of adopting the Geneva Protocol 
        III, as well as an extremely important memorandum of understanding 
        between the Magen David Adom and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society;
Whereas sustaining international support for the adoption of the third neutral 
        symbol against efforts to divert the conference into unrelated political 
        matters required extraordinary diplomatic efforts by the United States 
        and the American Red Cross;
Whereas the Geneva Protocol III adopted in Geneva in December 2005 established 
        the new third neutral symbol, the ``red crystal'' that can be used in 
        conjunction with the Red Shield of David and cleared the way for 
        Israel's full participation in the international movement;
Whereas in June 2006 the states parties to the Geneva Conventions, the national 
        Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, the Federation of the Red Cross 
        and Red Crescent Societies, and the International Committee of the Red 
        Cross met in Geneva to adopt rules implementing the Geneva Protocol III; 
        and
Whereas following the June 2006 meeting in Geneva, the International Red Cross 
        and Red Crescent Federation accepted the Magen David Adom Society as a 
        full member: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That--
            (1) Congress--
                    (A) commends the Magen David Adom Society for its 
                long and distinguished record of providing humanitarian 
                assistance to all those in need of aid, even those 
                responsible for heinous atrocities against Israeli 
                civilians;
                    (B) congratulates the Magen David Adom Society, and 
                the Government and the people of the State of Israel, 
                for securing full membership in the International Red 
                Cross and Red Crescent Federation, 57 years past due;
                    (C) thanks the President, the Secretary of State, 
                and United States diplomatic representatives for their 
                tireless pursuit and maintenance of the international 
                support that culminated in the Magen David Adom 
                Society's recent acceptance as a full member in the 
                International Red Cross and Red Crescent Federation;
                    (D) thanks the American Red Cross for its 
                unwavering and unyielding insistence within the 
                International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement that 
                the humanitarian principle of universality could not be 
                reconciled with continued exclusion of the Magen David 
                Adom Society; and
                    (E) thanks the Government of Switzerland and 
                officials of the International Committee of the Red 
                Cross for helping to prepare the necessary groundwork 
                and carrying to completion the adoption of the Geneva 
                Protocol III by the states parties to the Geneva 
                Conventions and the rules for its implementation; and
            (2) Congress commends the President for--
                    (A) submitting the Geneva Protocol III to the 
                Senate for its advice and consent; and
                    (B) pending approval by the Senate, preparing for 
                congressional consideration and enactment of 
                legislation necessary to carry into effect the Geneva 
                Protocol III.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 18, 2006.

            Attest:

                                                 KAREN L. HAAS,

                                                                 Clerk.