[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1308 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1308

Condemning the broadcasting of incitement to violence against Americans 
and the United States in media based in the Middle East, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2008

Mr. Bilirakis (for himself, Mr. Carnahan, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Mr. Cantor, 
 Mr. Pence, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Royce, 
  Mr. Chabot, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Poe, Mr. Fortuno, Mr. 
 Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Boozman, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Linder, Mr. 
 Kirk, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Weller of Illinois, Mr. Sali, Mr. Ramstad, Mr. 
 Porter, Mr. Terry, and Mr. Shays) submitted the following resolution; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the broadcasting of incitement to violence against Americans 
and the United States in media based in the Middle East, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the freedom of the press and freedom of expression are the foundations 
        of free and prosperous societies worldwide, and are among America's most 
        cherished values;
Whereas the freedom of the press and the freedom of expression comes the 
        responsibility to repudiate purveyors of incitement to violence;
Whereas for years, media outlets in the Middle East have repeatedly published or 
        broadcasted incitements to violence against the United States and its 
        citizens;
Whereas Hezbollah, a Foreign Terrorist Organization based in Lebanon and 
        sponsored by Iran and Syria, launched the television station al-Manar in 
        1991, and has funded and operated it ever since as a ``station of 
        resistance'', intending to use it as a weapon to further its goals of 
        violently combating the United States and Israel;
Whereas al-Manar launched a satellite television channel in 2000 and is 
        estimated to be viewed by over 10,000,000 people worldwide every day;
Whereas al-Manar has, at various times, been broadcast on satellites viewable on 
        every continent except Antarctica, and is reportedly presently viewable 
        on the satellite providers ArabSat, NileSat, and reportedly, as of April 
        2008, Indonesia's Palapa C2, which is owned by Indonesia Telkom, a 
        company controlled by the Government of Indonesia;
Whereas Hezbollah leader Hassan Hasrallah and other Hezbollah officials 
        frequently appear on al-Manar to call for ``Death to America'';
Whereas al-Manar has broadcasted over 2 dozen video clips of insurgent attacks 
        against American and Coalition forces in Iraq in 2008 to date;
Whereas, on March 1, 2008, al-Manar correspondent Ali Shu'aytu compared the USS 
        Cole's deployment off the coast of Lebanon to the 1983 deployment of 
        United States troops in Lebanon, stating ``at that time, the [USS New 
        Jersey] was safe off the Lebanese coast; however, it was forced to 
        retreat after [the] targeting [of] the United States Embassy as well as 
        the Marines' headquarters in Beirut and [the] killing [of] hundreds of 
        the United States occupation soldiers'';
Whereas Rasim al-Marwani, an Iraqi supporter of the Shi'a militia leader Muqtada 
        al-Sadr, stated on April 9, 2008, in an al-Manar broadcast that he 
        supported armed ``resistance'' against United States forces in Iraq, 
        saying, ``it is our highest priority to build up the resistance . . . we 
        think that the armed resistance and military escalation is some kind of 
        resistance, while believing the resistance is legal'';
Whereas the United States, France, the Netherlands, and Spain have banned 
        broadcasts of al-Manar, and the United States has designated al-Manar as 
        a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global 
        Terrorist;
Whereas al-Aqsa TV, a television station that is run by the Foreign Terrorist 
        Organization Hamas, is based in the Gaza Strip, began broadcasting in 
        2006 in Gaza, and began broadcasting internationally that same year via 
        the NileSat satellite provider;
Whereas, on March 30, 2008, al-Aqsa TV broadcast a puppet show that depicted an 
        Arab child stabbing the President of the United States to death and 
        turning the White House into a mosque;
Whereas the Government of Iran, through its state corporation Islamic Republic 
        of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), controls over a dozen land-based and 
        satellite television channels, including Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 
        3, Channel 4, Tehran TV, the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, 
        Tehran TV, Press TV, and al-Alam;
Whereas Press TV, Iran's English language satellite television network, is 
        transmitted via the satellite providers ArabSat, NileSat, AsiaSat, 
        HotBird, HispaSat, IntelSat, and Galaxy, and is viewable in North 
        America, South America, the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa;
Whereas al-Alam TV, Iran's Arabic language satellite television network, is 
        transmitted via the satellite providers ArabSat, NileSat, AsiaSat, 
        HotBird, TelStar, and Galaxy, and is viewable in North America, the 
        Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa;
Whereas many Iranian state-controlled television channels have broadcast 
        incitements to violence against the United States and Americans, 
        including coverage of rallies and speeches at which Iranian leaders, 
        clerics, children and mass audiences have declared ``Death to 
        America!'';
Whereas, on March 6, 2008, al-Alam broadcast a warning from an Iraqi insurgent 
        that if the USS Cole was not withdrawn from off the coast of Lebanon, 
        his group would be ``targeting all the United States interests, 
        especially the warships [docked] in Umm Qasr beaches in southern Iraq'';
Whereas al-Zawra is a presently non-operational Iraqi satellite television 
        channel that broadcast during 2006 and 2007 and was last observed 
        broadcasting in July of 2007;
Whereas al-Zawra is owned and operated by Mishan al-Jaburi, a former Iraqi 
        Member of Parliament who was expelled and fled to Syria in February of 
        2006, and has been sentenced in absentia by an Iraqi court to 15 years 
        imprisonment for embezzling funds from the Government of Iraq;
Whereas the Government of Iraq banned al-Zawra in November of 2006 for inciting 
        ``violence and murder'';
Whereas, on January 9, 2008, the Department of the Treasury prohibited all 
        transactions between any United States person and al-Zawra and al-
        Jaburi, under Executive Order 13438, ``for threatening the peace and 
        stability of Iraq and the Government of Iraq'';
Whereas al-Zawra broadcast videos of violent attacks against United States 
        forces in Iraq that showed the destruction of United States humvees and 
        armored vehicles, recruitment videos for the Abu Bakr al-Sadiq al-Salafi 
        Battalion of al-Qaeda in Iraq, and videos that feature prominently 
        ``Juba'', a sniper that allegedly targeted Coalition forces, and called 
        for viewers to engage in violence against Coalition forces in Iraq;
Whereas, in 2007, al-Zawra aired a program widely nicknamed ``Hidden Camera 
        Jihad'', a compilation of attacks filmed and executed by insurgents 
        against Coalition forces in Iraq and accompanied by sound effects, 
        scornful English language captions, and a ``laugh track'';
Whereas multiple reports indicate that after being banned in Iraq, al-Zawra 
        broadcast via a satellite uplink based in Syria;
Whereas reports indicate that during its observed period of operation, al-Zawra 
        broadcast on satellite providers including ArabSat, NileSat and 
        EutelSat, and was available in the Middle East, North Africa, and 
        Europe;
Whereas al-Rafidayn, an Arabic language satellite television channel based in 
        Egypt, focuses on Iraq, is broadcast via NileSat to the Middle East and 
        North Africa, and is affiliated with the Association of Muslim Scholars, 
        an anti-American Islamist group based in Iraq;
Whereas al-Rafidayn has repeatedly broadcast video clips produced by Sunni 
        insurgent and terrorist groups in Iraq, and the channel's news 
        broadcasts have frequently broadcast videos, poems, and songs that 
        praise those groups and their attacks on United States forces in Iraq;
Whereas al-Rafidayn has repeatedly broadcast claims of responsibility for 
        attacks on United States forces in Iraq by insurgent and terrorist 
        groups;
Whereas, on February 29, 2008, al-Rafidayn broadcast an interview with Nizar al-
        Samarra'i, a writer and political analyst, in which he called on all 
        Muslims to engage in ``jihad'' in Iraq;
Whereas the ArabSat satellite provider was founded by the Arab League and is 
        governed by a General Assembly comprised of the communications 
        ministers, or their representatives, of Arab League member countries;
Whereas the NileSat satellite provider is controlled by the Government of Egypt;
Whereas television channels that broadcast incitement to violence against 
        Americans, the United States, and others have demonstrated the ability 
        to shift their operations to different countries and their transmissions 
        to different satellite providers in order to continue broadcasting and 
        to evade accountability;
Whereas television channels such as al-Manar, al-Aqsa, al-Zawra, and others that 
        broadcast incitement to violence against the United States and 
        Americans, aid Foreign Terrorist Organizations in the key functions of 
        recruitment, fundraising, and propaganda;
Whereas the broadcast of incitement to violence against Americans and the United 
        States on television channels and other media that are accessible in the 
        United States may increase the risk of radicalization and recruitment of 
        Americans into Foreign Terrorist Organizations that seek to carry out 
        acts of violence against American targets and on American soil;
Whereas the use of media outlets by advocates of violence against American 
        forces pose a clear and present danger to the security of United States 
        service members and American civilians serving in the Middle East; and
Whereas it is imperative for the United States to counter the threat to American 
        service and civilian personnel that results from the control or use of 
        media outlets by Specially Designated Global Terrorists and other 
        entities that intend harm to our Nation's interests: Now, therefore, be 
        it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the broadcast of incitement to violence 
        against Americans and the United States by media based in the 
        Middle East;
            (2) urges governments throughout the Middle East, American 
        allies, and other responsible nations to officially and 
        publically repudiate purveyors of incitement to violence 
        against Americans and the United States; and
            (3) calls on the President to--
                    (A) designate al-Aqsa TV as a Specially Designated 
                Global Terrorist (SDGT);
                    (B) designate as SDGTs satellite providers that 
                knowingly and willingly contract with entities 
                designated as SDGTs to broadcast their channels for 
                providing financial, material, or technological support 
                to terrorist entities; and
                    (C) take into consideration state sponsorship of 
                anti-American incitement to violence when determining 
                the level of assistance to, and frequency and nature of 
                relations with, regional states.
                                 <all>