[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 21 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 21

   Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian 
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the 
   Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United 
 Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction of the State 
                               of Israel.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2007

Mr. Rothman (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Towns, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Engel, 
Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Johnson of Illinois, Mr. 
   Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Ms. Berkley, Mr. 
 Sessions, Mr. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Carney, 
 Mr. McNulty, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. McCaul of Texas, Mr. Manzullo, 
 Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Saxton, and Mr. Lewis of Georgia) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian 
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the 
   Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United 
 Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction of the State 
                               of Israel.

Whereas the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
        Genocide (commonly referred to as the ``Genocide Convention'') defines 
        genocide as, among other things, the act of killing members of a 
        national, ethnic, racial, or religious group with the intent to destroy, 
        in whole or in part, the targeted group, and it also prohibits 
        conspiracy to commit genocide, as well as ``direct and public incitement 
        to commit genocide'';
Whereas Article 4 of the Genocide Convention provides that individuals 
        committing any of the listed genocidal crimes shall be punished 
        ``whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials 
        or private individuals'';
Whereas 133 Member States of the United Nations have ratified the Genocide 
        Convention and thereby pledged to prosecute those individuals who 
        violate its criteria for incitement to commit genocide, as well as those 
        individuals who commit genocide directly;
Whereas 61 years ago the United Nations was founded to prevent another 
        Holocaust, the Nazi genocide carried out during World War II that 
        resulted in the slaughter of 6 million Jews in Europe, from happening 
        ever again;
Whereas Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations Charter, to which Iran has 
        agreed as a Member State of the United Nations, requires all Member 
        States of the United Nations to ``refrain in their international 
        relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial 
        integrity or political independence of any state'';
Whereas, on October 27, 2005, at the World Without Zionism Conference in Tehran, 
        Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be 
        ``wiped off the map'', described Israel as ``a disgraceful blot [on] the 
        face of the Islamic world'', and declared that ``[a]nybody who 
        recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury'';
Whereas, on December 12, 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a 
        conference in Tehran questioning the history of the Holocaust and said 
        that Israel would ``soon be wiped out'';
Whereas, on December 14, 2006, incoming United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-
        moon said that Iran's calls for Israel's destruction and its dismissal 
        of the Holocaust are ``unacceptable'', and expressed concern about the 
        regional and global security implications of Tehran's nuclear program;
Whereas, on August 3, 2006, in a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim 
        leaders, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that the Middle 
        East would be better off ``without the existence of the Zionist 
        regime'', called Israel an ``illegitimate regime'' with ``no legal basis 
        for its existence'', and accused the United States of using Israel as a 
        proxy to control the region and its oil resources;
Whereas Iran funds, trains, and openly supports terrorist groups, including 
        Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad among many others, that are 
        determined to destroy Israel;
Whereas, on December 14, 2001, the President of Iran's Expediency Council, Ali 
        Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, threatened Israel with nuclear attack, saying, 
        ``[i]f one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like 
        those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will 
        reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside 
        Israel will destroy everything [in Israel], while it will merely harm 
        the Islamic world'';
Whereas Iran has aggressively pursued a clandestine effort to arm itself with 
        nuclear weapons; and
Whereas the longstanding policy of the Iranian regime is aimed at destroying the 
        democratic State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and 
        the most important strategic ally of the United States, which is 
        confirmed by statements such as those made by Iranian President 
        Ahmadinejad and Council President Rafsanjani, demonstrating the threat 
        of a nuclear-armed Iran: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That Congress--
            (1) condemns, in the strongest terms, Iranian President 
        Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's offensive remarks, contemptible 
        statements, and reprehensible policies aimed at the destruction 
        of the State of Israel;
            (2) calls on the United Nations Security Council to charge 
        Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 
        Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
        Genocide and Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations 
        Charter;
            (3) further calls on the United Nations Security Council 
        and all Member States of the United Nations to consider 
        measures to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, which 
        would be both a dangerous violation of the Nuclear Non-
        Proliferation Treaty and a potential means to the end of 
        carrying out President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against 
        Israel; and
            (4) reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership between 
        the United States and Israel and reasserts the steadfast 
        commitment of the United States to defend the right of Israel 
        to exist as a free and democratic state.
                                 <all>