[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 435 Engrossed in House (EH)]


                In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

                                                      November 5, 2007.
Whereas the Department of State has said that Iran is the ``most active state 
        sponsor of terrorism'';
Whereas the Department of State 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy 
        Report moved Iran to a ``Jurisdiction of Primary Concern'';
Whereas in February 2006, the chairman of the Iranian legislative body announced 
        an offer to assist Venezuela with a nuclear program;
Whereas in February 2006, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria were the only 3 member 
        nations of the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency 
        to vote against referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council 
        for its nuclear program;
Whereas in September 2007, Iran requested observer-status membership in the 
        Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA), an 
        organization led by Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, to counter 
        United States-led efforts for free trade in that region;
Whereas in September 2007, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, made his 
        third visit in one year to Latin America, this time visiting Venezuela 
        and Bolivia, where Mr. Ahmadinejad announced a commitment of Iranian 
        investment in Bolivia of up to $1,000,000,000 over five years;
Whereas Mr. Ahmadinejad and Mr. Chavez have announced plans for a $2,000,000,000 
        shared fund to invest in projects in countries that Mr. Chavez 
        characterized as seeking to ``liberate themselves from the U.S. 
        imperialist yoke'';
Whereas in July 2007, the Venezuelan energy minister announced plans to sell 
        gasoline to Iran following riots in Iran opposing the Iranian 
        Government's policy of gas rationing;
Whereas in March, 2007 routine civilian airline flights were established from 
        Tehran, Iran directly to Caracas, Venezuela;
Whereas the 2006 State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism stated that 
        Venezuela is not ``fully cooperating'' with United States antiterrorism 
        efforts;
Whereas according to the State Department, ``an individual claiming to be a 
        member of an Islamic extremist group in Venezuela placed two pipe bombs 
        outside the American Embassy in Caracas on October 23, 2006. Venezuelan 
        police safely disposed of the two pipe bombs and immediately made one 
        arrest. The investigation by Venezuelan authorities resulted in the 
        additional arrest of the alleged ideological leader of the group. At 
        year's end, both suspects remained in jail and prosecutors were pressing 
        terrorism charges against them'';
Whereas Hizbollah, Iran's proxy terrorist group, executed the deadliest 
        terrorist attack against Americans abroad since World War II, the 1983 
        suicide bombing of a United States Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, 
        that killed 241 American servicemen;
Whereas Iran and Hizbollah were involved in the two deadliest terrorist attacks 
        in Argentina: the March 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos 
        Aires, Argentina, which killed 29 people and the July 1994 attack 
        against the Argentine-Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), which killed 85 
        people;
Whereas the Government of Argentina is currently seeking legal action against 
        the perpetrators of the 1994 AMIA terrorist attack;
Whereas in September 2007, the President of Argentina said to the United Nations 
        General Assembly, ``I want to stress here, in the United Nations 
        headquarters, that unfortunately until now, the Islamic Republic of Iran 
        has not collaborated with the Argentine justice system to clarify what 
        occurred'';
Whereas according to a 2003 report by the Library of Congress, money laundered 
        in the tri-border region, the area where Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil 
        meet, ``probably are in the billions of dollars per year'' and 
        ``Hizbollah has reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from 
        narcotics and arms trafficking, product piracy, and other illicit 
        activities in the tri-border area'';
Whereas the television station Telemundo interviewed residents of the tri-border 
        region who said that ``they're only waiting for an order to put bombs on 
        their body and attack the United States'';
Whereas in March 2007, Brazilian officials arrested 31 people for illegally 
        issuing passports over the past 14 years, and press reports indicate 
        that some of these passports may have been provided to members of 
        terrorist organizations, including members of Hizbollah;
Whereas Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and the United States have formed the 3+1 
        Group, which has focused on the financing of terrorism, drug and arms 
        trafficking, and border security, as well as the exchange of 
        information, with the purpose of preventing terrorism and transnational 
        crimes in the tri-border region;
Whereas in November 2006, Brazil established a new Regional Intelligence Center 
        in the tri-border region, dedicated to coordinating intelligence 
        activities of the police forces of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, and 
        invited Argentina and Paraguay to send official representatives to the 
        Center;
Whereas in March 2007, the Organization of American States' Inter-American 
        Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE) reaffirmed that ``terrorism in all 
        its forms and manifestations, whatever its origin or motivation, has no 
        justification whatsoever, affects the full enjoyment and exercise of 
        human rights, and constitutes a grave threat to international peace and 
        security, democratic institutions, and the values enshrined in the OAS 
        Charter, the Inter-American Democratic Charter, and other regional and 
        international instruments'';
Whereas in July 2007, the Government of Argentina enacted anti-terrorism 
        legislation that put in place harsher penalties for cooperating with 
        terrorists; and
Whereas as of March 2007, the Government of Brazil was considering expanded 
        anti-terrorism legislation: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses concern over the emerging national security 
        implications of the Iranian regime's efforts to expand its influence in 
        Latin America;
            (2) supports the existing counterterrorism efforts of Latin American 
        countries, including the successful counterterrorism efforts of the 3+1 
        Group (consisting of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and the United 
        States);
            (3) emphasizes the importance of eliminating Hizbollah's financial 
        network in the tri-border region of South America where Brazil, 
        Paraguay, and Argentina meet and throughout the Western Hemisphere;
            (4) commends and supports the efforts of individual countries and 
        regional bodies in the Western Hemisphere that have led efforts to 
        eliminate terrorist financing and other terrorist operations;
            (5) calls on the United States Government to work with governments 
        in the Western Hemisphere to pursue an antiterrorism campaign based on 
        cooperation and constant vigilance;
            (6) urges the United States Government to work bilaterally and 
        multilaterally with countries in the Western Hemisphere to help them 
        create antiterrorism legislation that would give governmental 
        authorities new tools to take action against terrorist networks; and
            (7) recommends that the President of the United States create more 
        mechanisms for joint counterterrorism operations and intraregional 
        information sharing among supportive countries in the Western 
        Hemisphere, especially in light of Iran's increased involvement in the 
        region.
            Attest:

                                                                          Clerk.