[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 385 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 385


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 16, 2008

      Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos 
        Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and for other purposes.

Whereas, on July 18, 1994, 85 people were killed and 300 were wounded when the 
        Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) was bombed in Buenos Aires, 
        Argentina;
Whereas extensive evidence links the planning of the attacks to the Government 
        of Iran, and the execution of the attacks to Hezbollah, which is based 
        in Lebanon, supported by Syria, sponsored by Iran, and

              

 designated by the Department of State as a Foreign Terrorist Organization;

Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina, an office 
        created by the Government of Argentina, concluded that the AMIA bombing 
        was ``decided and organized by the highest leaders of the former 
        government of . . . Iran, whom, at the same time, entrusted its 
        execution to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah'';
Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina concluded that 
        the AMIA bombing had been approved in advance by Iran's Supreme Leader 
        Ali Khamene'i, Iran's then-leader Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's 
        then-Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and Iran's then-Minister of 
        Security and Intelligence Ali Fallahijan;
Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina stated that the 
        Government of Iran uses ``terrorism as a mechanism of its foreign 
        policy'' in support of ``its final aim [which] is to export its 
        radicalized vision of Islam and to eliminate the enemies of the 
        regime'';
Whereas, on October 25, 2006, the State Prosecutor of Argentina identified 
        Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a Lebanese citizen and member of Hezbollah, as 
        the suicide bomber who primarily carried out the attack on the AMIA;
Whereas, on November 9, 2006, Argentine Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, pursuant 
        to the request of the State Prosecutor of Argentina, issued an arrest 
        warrant for Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former leader of Iran and 
        the current chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts and of Iran's 
        Expediency Council, for his involvement in the AMIA bombing and urged 
        the International Criminal Po-lice Organization (INTERPOL) to issue an 
        international arrest warrant for Rafsanjani and detain him;
Whereas, on November 9, 2006, Argentine Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral, pursuant 
        to the request of the State Prosecutor of Argentina, also issued arrest 
        warrants for Ali Fallahijan, a former Iranian Minister of Security and 
        Intelligence, Ali Akbar Velayati, a former Iranian Foreign Minister, 
        Mohsen Rezai, a former commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards 
        Corps (IRGC), Ahmad Vahidi, a former commander of the elite Al-Quds 
        Force of the IRGC, Hadi Soleimanpour, a former Iranian ambassador to 
        Argentina, Mohsen Rabbani, a former cultural attache at the Iranian 
        Embassy in Buenos Aires, Ahmad Reza Asghari, a former official at the 
        Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, and Imad Moughnieh, a leading 
        operations chief of Hezbollah;
Whereas, on March 5, 2007, the Executive Committee of INTERPOL unanimously 
        supported the issuance of Red Notices for Hezbollah operative Imad 
        Moughnieh and for Iranian officials Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen Rezai, Ahmad 
        Vahidi, Mohsen Rabbani, and Ahmad Reza Asgari, thereby allowing arrest 
        warrants for those individuals to be circulated worldwide with an eye to 
        their arrest and extradition;
Whereas, on November 7, 2007, the General Assembly of INTERPOL upheld the 
        Executive Committee's decision to support the issuance of six Red 
        Notices in connection to the AMIA case;
Whereas, on February 12, 2008, Hezbollah operative Imad Moughnieh reportedly was 
        killed in Syria;
Whereas in June of 2008, the Government of Saudi Arabia hosted an international 
        Muslim conference that was reportedly attended by Iranian officials Ali 
        Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, against whom an Argentine arrest warrant has 
        been issued, and Mohsen Rezai, against whom both an Argentine arrest 
        warrant and INTERPOL Red Notice have been issued;
Whereas the Government of Saudi Arabia reportedly made no attempt to detain or 
        arrest Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani or Mohsen Rezai during their time in 
        Saudi Arabia, and the two departed Saudi Arabia without incident;
Whereas, on May 22, 2008, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman filed a request 
        with Argentine judge Ariel Lijo for the arrest of Carlos Saul Menem, who 
        was president of Argentina at the time of the AMIA bombing, and four 
        other former Argentine high officials in connection with the AMIA case;
Whereas Mr. Nisman claimed in his request for an arrest warrant that Menem and 
        the other four officials had attempted to cover up the involvement of a 
        Syrian-Argentine businessman, Alberto Jacinto Kanoore Edul, in the AMIA 
        bombing;
Whereas Argentine investigators have stated that prior to the AMIA bombing, Mr. 
        Kanoore Edul was in contact with at least two men who have been 
        identified as suspects in the AMIA case;
Whereas Mr. Nisman stated in an article published on May 29, 2008, that his 
        request for arrest warrants against Argentine nationals in the AMIA case 
        ``does absolutely not change the accusations against Hezbollah and Iran 
        . . . To a certain degree, it reinforces them, because [suspect Alberto 
        Jacinto] Kanoore Edul has many links with Islamist extremists'';
Whereas during the last two years, the Government of Argentina has made 
        significant advances in the AMIA investigation and other counter-
        terrorism efforts including the enactment, in July 2007, of counter-
        terrorism legislation which seeks to criminalize financing, fund-
        raising, and money laundering activities of groups linked to terrorism;
Whereas the issuance of an Argentine arrest warrant for an attache of the 
        Iranian Embassy in Argentina in connection with the AMIA case, indicates 
        that Iran has used its embassies abroad as tools and extensions of 
        radical Islamist goals and attacks;
Whereas in recent years, Iran has greatly expanded its diplomatic, political, 
        and economic presence in the Western Hemisphere, including the opening 
        of nearly a dozen embassies in Latin America; and
Whereas according to news reports published in June 2008, intelligence agencies 
        in the United States and Canada have warned of significant evidence that 
        Hezbollah, with the support of the Government of Iran, plans to launch a 
        major attack against ``Jewish targets'' outside the Middle East, and 
        that possible targeted areas include Canada and Latin America: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) reiterates its strongest condemnation of the 1994 
        attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish 
        Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, honors the victims 
        of this attack, and expresses its sympathy to the relatives of 
        the victims;
            (2) applauds the Government of Argentina for increasing the 
        pace of the AMIA bombing investigation and for enacting 
        counter-terrorism legislation;
            (3) urges the Government of Argentina to continue to 
        dedicate and provide the resources necessary for its judicial 
        system and intelligence agencies to investigate all areas of 
        the AMIA case and to prosecute those responsible;
            (4) commends the General Assembly of the International 
        Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) for upholding and 
        issuing the Red Notices supported by the Executive Committee of 
        INTERPOL in March 2007;
            (5) expresses grave concern regarding the Government of 
        Saudi Arabia's failure, when given the opportunity, to detain 
        Iranian officials against whom Argentine arrest warrants or 
        INTERPOL Red Notices are pending in connection with the AMIA 
        case;
            (6) urges all nations to cooperate fully with the AMIA 
        investigation, including by making information, witnesses, and 
        suspects available for review and questioning by the 
        appropriate Argentine authorities, and by detaining and 
        extraditing to Argentina, if given the opportunity, any persons 
        against whom Argentine arrest warrants or INTERPOL Red Notices 
        are pending in connection with the AMIA case, including Iranian 
        officials and former officials, Hezbollah operatives, and 
        Islamist militants;
            (7) encourages the President to direct United States law 
        enforcement agencies to provide support and cooperation to the 
        Government of Argentina, if requested, for the purposes of 
        deepening and expanding the investigation into the AMIA 
        bombing; and
            (8) urges governments in the Western Hemisphere, who have 
        not done so already, to draft, adopt, and implement legislation 
        designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, banning 
        fundraising and recruitment activities, and applying the 
        harshest penalties on those providing support for activities 
        involving Hezbollah and other such Islamist terrorist 
        organizations.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 15, 2008.

            Attest:

                                            LORRAINE C. MILLER,

                                                                 Clerk.

                               By Robert F. Reeves,

                                                          Deputy Clerk.