[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 21 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 21


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 21, 2007

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian leader 
     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 62 years ago the United Nations was founded in the wake of the 
        Holocaust, the Nazi genocide carried out during World War II that 
        resulted in the slaughter of 6 million Jews in Europe, in order to 
        ``save succeeding gen- erations from the scourge of war'' and uphold and 
        protect the ``dignity and worth of the human person'';
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 26, 2005, at the World Without Zionism Conference in Tehran, 
        Iran, Iranian leader 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 leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a 
        conference in Tehran questioning the historical veracity of the 
        Holocaust and said that Israel would ``soon be wiped out'';
Whereas on December 15, 2000, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i stated to 
        thousands of Muslim worshippers in Tehran that ``Iran's stance has 
        always been clear on this ugly phenomenon (Israel). We have repeatedly 
        said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the 
        region'';
Whereas other Iranian leaders have made similar statements and the Government of 
        Iran has displayed inflammatory symbols that express similar intent;
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 leader 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, all of which have 
        murdered Americans, Israelis, and non-Israeli Jews and are determined to 
        destroy Israel;
Whereas on December 14, 2001, former leader of Iran and current leader of Iran's 
        influential Expediency Council Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani threatened 
        Israel with destruction by 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, a vital United States ally and longstanding 
        friend, which is confirmed by statements such as those made by Iranian 
        leader Ahmadinejad, Supreme Leader Khamene'i, and Expediency Council 
        leader 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 leader 
        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 take up 
        charges against Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for 
        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 
        stronger 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 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against 
        Israel; and
            (4) reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership and 
        close friendship 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.

            Passed the House of Representatives June 20, 2007.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.