[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 504 Agreed to Senate (ATS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 504

Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should not accept 
   the credentials of any representative of the Government of Libya 
 without the expressed understanding that the Government of Libya will 
 continue to work in good faith to resolve outstanding cases of United 
States victims of terrorism sponsored or supported by Libya, including 
the settlement of cases arising from the Pan Am Flight 103 and LaBelle 
                         Discotheque bombings.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 7, 2006

 Mr. Lautenberg (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mr. Menendez, Mrs. Clinton, 
Mr. Reid, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Biden, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Levin, Mr. Kerry, 
  Ms. Stabenow, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Schumer, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Dodd, Mr. 
Bingaman, Mr. Allen, Ms. Collins, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Burr, Mr. Salazar, 
 Mr. DeMint, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Reed, Mr. DeWine, Mr. Kohl, 
 Mr. Hatch, Mr. Coleman, and Mr. Rockefeller) submitted the following 
             resolution; which was considered and agreed to

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Senate that the President should not accept 
   the credentials of any representative of the Government of Libya 
 without the expressed understanding that the Government of Libya will 
 continue to work in good faith to resolve outstanding cases of United 
States victims of terrorism sponsored or supported by Libya, including 
the settlement of cases arising from the Pan Am Flight 103 and LaBelle 
                         Discotheque bombings.

Whereas there has not been a resolution of the claims of members of the United 
        States Armed Forces and other United States citizens who were injured in 
        the April 6, 1986, bombing of the LaBelle Discotheque in Berlin, 
        Germany, and the claims of family members of the service men and women 
        killed in that bombing or the resolution of other outstanding cases of 
        United States victims of terror sponsored or supported by Libya;
Whereas, on December 21, 1988, terrorists from Libya bombed Pan Am Flight 103 
        over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, including 189 Americans;
Whereas, on May 29, 2002, the Government of Libya offered to pay up to 
        $2,700,000,000 to settle claims by the families of the 270 people killed 
        aboard Pan Am Flight 103, representing $10,000,000 for each victim of 
        the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing;
Whereas, on August 15, 2003, Libya's Ambassador to the United Nations, Ahmed 
        Own, submitted a letter to the United Nations Security Council formally 
        accepting ``responsibility for the action of its officials'' in relation 
        to the Lockerbie bombing;
Whereas, on September 12, 2003, the United Nations lifted sanctions against 
        Libya, thereby enabling the first trigger of the agreement between the 
        Government of Libya and the families of the victims of the attack on Pan 
        Am Flight 103 for a payment of $4,000,000 per victim that has been paid 
        to the victims' families;
Whereas, on September 24, 2004, the United States lifted most economic sanctions 
        against Libya, thereby enabling the second trigger of the agreement 
        between the Government of Libya and the families of the victims of the 
        attack on Pan Am Flight 103 for an additional payment of $4,000,000 per 
        victim that has been paid to the victims' families;
Whereas, on May 15, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the 
        determination of President George W. Bush to rescind the designation of 
        Libya on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, thereby enabling the 
        third trigger of the agreement between the Government of Libya and the 
        families of the victims of the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 for a final 
        payment of $2,000,000 per victim;
Whereas, on May 15, 2006, Secretary of State Rice announced the reestablishment 
        of full diplomatic relations with the Government of Libya, ending 26 
        years of isolation; and
Whereas the agreement between the Government of Libya and the families of the 
        victims of the attack on Pan Am Flight 103 incorporated a timeline for 
        payment of the full $2,700,000,000 that has not been met even though all 
        of the other conditions for such payment have been satisfied: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) it remains an important priority for further 
        improvement in the relations between the United States and 
        Libya that the Government of Libya make a good faith effort to 
        resolve all outstanding claims of United States victims of 
        terrorism sponsored or supported by Libya;
            (2) it is in the best interests of the long-term 
        relationship between the United States and Libya that final 
        payment be made to the families of the victims of the attack on 
        Pan Am Flight 103; and
            (3) the President should not accept the credentials of any 
        representative of the Government of Libya without the expressed 
        understanding that the Government of Libya will continue to 
        work in good faith to resolve outstanding cases of United 
        States victims of terrorism sponsored or supported by Libya, 
        including the settlement of cases arising from the Pan Am 
        Flight 103 and LaBelle Discotheque bombings.
                                 <all>