[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 113 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 113
Congratulating the Magen David Adom Society in Israel for achieving
full membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 21, 2006
Mrs. Clinton (for herself and Mrs. Dole) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Congratulating the Magen David Adom Society in Israel for achieving
full membership in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement, 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 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 Movement 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 has
worked under its own symbol, the Red Star of David, as an expression of
the humanitarian values the Magen David Adom Society shares with the Red
Cross and Red Crescent societies;
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, the American Red Cross, and the American Friends of
Magen David Adom have worked ceaselessly to resolve the issue of the
third neutral symbol and achieve full membership in the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement for the Magen David Adom Society;
Whereas Congress has insisted that funds made available to the International
Committee of the Red Cross 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 Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement;
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 party to the
Geneva Conventions in December 2005 for the purpose of adopting a Third
Additional Protocol 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 Third Additional
Protocol, 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 Third Additional Protocol 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 Israeli membership in the international movement;
Whereas, in June 2006, the states party to the Geneva Conventions, the national
humanitarian aid societies, the International 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 Third Additional
Protocol; and
Whereas, at the June 2006 meeting in Geneva, the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement accepted the Magen David Adom Society as a full
member: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
That Congress--
(1) 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;
(2) congratulates the Magen David Adom Society, and the
Government and people of Israel, for securing full membership
in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 57
years past due;
(3) thanks the President, the Secretary of State, and
United States diplomatic representatives for their tireless
pursuit and maintenance of the international consensus that
culminated in the recent acceptance of the Magen David Adom
Society as a full member in the International Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement;
(4) thanks the American Red Cross for its unwavering and
unyielding insistence within the International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement that the principles of international
humanitarian law could not be reconciled with continued
exclusion of the Magen David Adom Society;
(5) thanks the Government of Switzerland and officials of
the International Committee of the Red Cross for helping to
prepare the necessary consensus and carrying to completion the
adoption of the Third Additional Protocol by the states party
to the Geneva Conventions and the rules for its implementation;
and
(6) commends the President for--
(A) submitting the Third Additional Protocol 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 Third
Additional Protocol.
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