[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 438 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 438

     Urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting 
 resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and to promote within the 
    United Nations General Assembly more balanced and constructive 
          approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 14, 2005

    Mr. Rothman (for himself and Mr. Kirk) submitted the following 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
     Urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting 
 resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and to promote within the 
    United Nations General Assembly more balanced and constructive 
          approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.

Whereas the 60th General Assembly of the United Nations will be held in New York 
        City from September through December 2005;
Whereas the State of Israel is the number one strategic ally of the United 
        States and the only true democracy in the Middle East;
Whereas 60 years ago the United Nations was founded to prevent another Holocaust 
        from ever happening again;
Whereas 3 years after its founding, the United Nations passed General Assembly 
        Resolution 181, which established the State of Israel as a homeland and 
        refuge for Jews around the world;
Whereas in recent years, the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations 
        Security Council have engaged in a pattern of introducing and approving 
        hundreds of measures and resolutions that unfairly criticize and condemn 
        Israel;
Whereas despite the myriad of challenges facing the world community, the United 
        Nations General Assembly has devoted a vastly disproportionate amount of 
        time and resources to castigating Israel;
Whereas for the past 30 years, the United Nations has funded 3 entities that 
        support anti-Israel propaganda, including the Division for Palestinian 
        Rights (DPR), the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of 
        the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), and the Special Committee to 
        Investigate Israeli Human Rights Practices Affecting the Palestinian 
        People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (SCIIHRP);
Whereas the double standard against the State of Israel that is perpetrated at 
        the United Nations is pervasive: of 10 emergency special sessions called 
        by the United Nations General Assembly, 6 have been about Israel, and 
        since 1997, at the annual meetings of the United Nations Commission on 
        Human Rights in Geneva, only Israel has had its own agenda item (Item 8) 
        dealing with its alleged human rights violations, whereas all other 
        countries are dealt with in a separate agenda item (Item 9);
Whereas the State of Israel is the only member nation of the United Nations that 
        has consistently been denied full admission into its regional group, the 
        Asian Regional Group, which is Israel's natural geopolitical grouping;
Whereas as a result of this denial, Israel sought entry into the United Nations' 
        Western and Others Group (WEOG) and was only granted limited admission 
        to that regional group in May 2000 for activities or meetings held in 
        New York, but was not granted admission in any form to the activities or 
        meetings of the WEOG held in Geneva, Nairobi, or Vienna;
Whereas during the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the 
        General Assembly adopted a total of 71 resolutions by roll call vote, 21 
        of which criticized Israel;
Whereas despite the fact that there are 191 member states in the United 
        Nations--many of which have abhorrent human rights records, 
        approximately 30 percent of the resolutions voted on annually by the 
        United Nations General Assembly address the actions of one country, the 
        State of Israel;
Whereas many member states of the United Nations General Assembly continue to 
        engage in a discriminatory campaign against Israel, including adopting a 
        resolution on December 1, 2004, that condemned Israeli security measures 
        without proportional condemnation of Palestinian terrorist attacks 
        launched against Israel;
Whereas as a founding member of the United Nations and as a constant and true 
        partner for peace to both entities involved in the Israeli-Palestinian 
        conflict, the United States has a special responsibility to promote fair 
        and equitable treatment of all nations in the context of international 
        institutions and to stop what it views to be counter-productive efforts 
        that undermine the role of the United Nations as an honest broker for 
        peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and
Whereas the State of Israel's election to the Vice Presidency of the United 
        Nations General Assembly presents member nations with an opportunity to 
        reverse the body's pattern of unfairly castigating Israel: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges member states of 
the United Nations to--
            (1) stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate 
        Israel; and
            (2) promote within the United Nations General Assembly more 
        balanced and constructive approaches to resolving conflict in 
        the Middle East.
                                 <all>