110 HCON 257 IH: Expressing concern regarding arms transfers U.S. House of Representatives 2007-11-13 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. CON. RES. 257 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 13, 2007 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Pence, Mr. Wexler, and Mr. Gallegly) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing concern regarding arms transfers to Iran and Syria by the Russian Federation and entities in the Russian Federation and urging the President of the United States to implement sanctions against such entities found to be in violation of United States law prohibiting arms transfers to Iran and Syria.

Whereas arms transfer agreements between the Russian Federation and Iran from 2002 through 2005 have been valued in total at $1,700,000,000 and arms transfer agreements between the Russian Federation and Syria over the same period have been estimated at over $800,000,000; Whereas the Russian state-owned arms selling agency, Rosoboronexport, has sold and delivered to Iran 30 anti-aircraft missile systems (known as the Tor M1 missile), worth over $1,000,000,000; Whereas Russia has agreed to upgrade Iran’s MiG-29 fighter aircraft and Su-24 jets, the latter aircraft having the capability to carry nuclear weapons; Whereas reports indicate that Syria has test-fired a Russian-built Scud D short-range ballistic missile with a range of 440 miles; Whereas in January 2007, Valery Kashin, chief of the Engineering Design Bureau (KBM), a leading defense enterprise in Russia, stated that Russia had met all of its commitments under a 2005 contract to supply Syria with Strelets antiaircraft missile systems; Whereas it has been reported that Russia plans to sell S–300 missiles to Iran and Su-30 fighter jets to Syria via Belarus and that Russia is planning to provide Syria with Iskander missiles and MiG-29 fighter jets; Whereas reports indicate that Syria recently entered into an agreement with Russia worth $730,000,000 for over 50 Pantsyr-S1E self-propelled short-range gun and missile systems and that Syria has agreed to supply Iran with at least 10 of the purchased systems; Whereas in June 2007 it was reported that Rosoboronexport may start delivery of 5 MiG-31E fighter jets to Syria, under a deal estimated to be worth $1,000,000,000; Whereas according to a 2003 unclassified report of the Central Intelligence Agency to Congress, Russian entities during the reporting period continued to supply a variety of ballistic missile-related goods and technical know-how to countries such as Iran … . Iran’s earlier success in gaining technology and materials from Russian entities helped to accelerate Iranian development of the Shahab-3 MRBM, and continuing Russian entity assistance has supported Iranian efforts to develop new missiles and increase Tehran’s self-sufficiency in missile production.; Whereas Iran and Syria are the most active state sponsors of terrorism in the world and reports indicate that they have provided the organizations known as Hezbollah and Hamas with weapons, as well as financing, training, and political support; Whereas Hezbollah and Hamas have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the United States Department of State since 2001, and as specially designated global terrorist organizations since 2002, with Hezbollah and Hamas bearing responsibility for the murder of dozens of United States citizens; Whereas reports indicate that, during the conflict between Israel and Lebanon in the summer of 2006, Iran and Syria provided Hezbollah with weapons that included Russian-built anti-tank rocket-propelled grenades and Russian-made missiles such as the Kornet AT–14 that were used by Hezbollah to attack Israel; Whereas military experts claim that Hezbollah extremists have accumulated 10,000 to 15,000 rockets, mostly Soviet 122mm BM–21 artillery projectiles, known by the term Katyusha; Whereas reports indicate that arms continue to be smuggled out of Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon; and Whereas transfers of arms to Iran and Syria by the Russian Federation and Russian entities therefore pose a threat to peace and stability in the Middle East: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)expresses strong concern over Russia’s continued arms sales to Iran and Syria, which are state-sponsors of terrorism; (2)urges the Government of Russia to immediately cease the sale and transfer of arms to Iran and Syria; (3)urges the President of the United States to use the authority available to the President to implement sanctions on Russian entities engaged in arms sales to Iran or Syria under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act, the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992, and Executive Orders 13094 and 13882; and (4)urges the Government of Russia to play a constructive role in establishing peace and security in the Middle East.