[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.
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