[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 124 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 124

    Expressing the support of Congress for the Jewish community in 
                               Venezuela.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2009

  Mr. Mack (for himself, Mr. Bilirakis, Mrs. Bono Mack, Mr. Bishop of 
  Utah, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Cantor, Mr. Lincoln 
Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, Mr. Kirk, Mr. 
  Lamborn, Mr. McCaul, Mr. McCotter, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Rooney, Mr. 
  Shimkus, Mr. Shuster, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Royce, Mr. 
Garrett of New Jersey, Mrs. Myrick, Mr. Schock, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Broun 
 of Georgia, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Pence, and Mr. Wolf) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Expressing the support of Congress for the Jewish community in 
                               Venezuela.

Whereas it is the policy of the United States to protect religious freedom and 
        to oppose hatred based on religion, nationality, race, or ethnicity, 
        including countering anti-Semitism, at home and abroad;
Whereas the Jewish community in Venezuela has been a thriving one and the Jewish 
        population included families that have lived in the country for over two 
        centuries and many survivors of World War II;
Whereas according to the Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism Report released by 
        the Department of State's Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and 
        Combat Anti-Semitism, ``in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez has publicly 
        demonized Israel and utilized stereotypes about Jewish financial 
        influence and control, while Venezuela's government-sponsored mass media 
        have become vehicles for anti-Semitic discourse'';
Whereas according to the 2008 State Department's Human Rights Report on 
        Venezuela, there has been a rise in anti-Semitic vandalism, caricatures, 
        intimidations, and physical attacks on Jewish institutions from March 
        2008 onward;
Whereas the 2008 International Religious Freedom Report released by the Bureau 
        of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, ``[g]overnment-sponsored media 
        outlets [in Venezuela] utilized anti-Jewish caricatures and political 
        cartoons on several occasions'';
Whereas the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has placed 
        Venezuela on its Watch List of religious freedom violators, finding that 
        official state rhetoric against the Venezuelan Jewish community created 
        an environment where Jewish religious leaders and institutions are at 
        risk of attack;
Whereas in December 2007, Jewish leaders in Venezuela and across the world 
        condemned an armed police raid, in search of weapons, on a Jewish center 
        in Caracas where no weapons were found;
Whereas, on January of 2009, a Caracas synagogue was ransacked and vandalized 
        and the assailants shattered religious objects, spray-painting ``Jews, 
        get out'' on the temple's walls and stole a computer database containing 
        names and addresses of Jews living in Venezuela;
Whereas the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement condemning the January 
        2009 attack on the synagogue stating that ``it is directly related to 
        the atmosphere of anti-Jewish intimidation promoted by President Chavez 
        and his government apparatus'';
Whereas in February 2009, assailants threw an explosive at a Jewish community 
        center, spreading widespread fear in the Jewish community in Venezuela;
Whereas President Chavez stated that ``Israel continues to behave like the 
        assassin arm of the government of the United States . . . [and that] the 
        government of Israel is a government of assassins, government engaged in 
        genocide'';
Whereas, on January 6, 2009, President Hugo Chavez expelled Israel's ambassador 
        to Venezuela along with six other Israeli diplomats;
Whereas, on January 14, 2009, Venezuela officially severed relations with the 
        State of Israel ending 60 years of diplomatic ties and deepening the 
        vulnerability of Venezuelan Jews;
Whereas Navy Admiral James Stavridis, head of U.S. Southern Command, testified 
        before the Armed Services Committee on March 18, 2009, and indicated 
        that ``[t]errorist networks are active throughout our hemisphere [and 
        are] involved in . . . logistical support for parent organizations based 
        in the Middle East, such as Hizballah and Hamas.'' Admiral Stavridis 
        further indicated that ``our intelligence has demonstrated that pre-
        operational and operational activities have indeed occurred [in the 
        region]'';
Whereas according to the 2007 Country Report on Terrorism, released by the 
        Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, ``two self-proclaimed 
        Islamic extremists were arrested in October 2006 for placing a pair of 
        pipe bombs outside the American Embassy in Caracas.'';
Whereas, on June 18, 2008, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets 
        Control (OFAC) announced that it was freezing the United States assets 
        of two Venezuelans, Ghazi Nasr al Din (a Venezuelan diplomat serving in 
        Lebanon) and Fawzi Kan'an, for providing financial and other support to 
        Hezbollah;
Whereas the Department of State's 2009 International Travel information on 
        Venezuela specifies that since 2006, ``statistics have shown an alarming 
        78 percent increase in the number of reported kidnappings in Venezuela'' 
        and that kidnappers deal ``with victim's families directly or [sell] the 
        victim to terrorist groups'';
Whereas the 2008 Country Report on Terrorism states that ``Iran and Venezuela 
        continued weekly flights connecting Tehran and Damascus with Caracas. 
        Passengers on these flights were reportedly subject to only cursory 
        immigration and customs controls at Simon Bolivar International Airport 
        in Caracas.'';
Whereas the 2008 Country Report continues that ``Venezuelan citizenship, 
        identity, and travel documents remained easy to obtain, making Venezuela 
        a potentially attractive way station for terrorists. International 
        authorities remained suspicious of the integrity of Venezuelan documents 
        and their issuance process.'';
Whereas a pattern for terrorism against Jewish communities in Latin America 
        already exists, exemplified by the fact that on July 18, 1994, 85 
        innocent people were killed and 300 were wounded when the Argentine 
        Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) was bombed in Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Whereas it was reported that contact was made by the Iranian embassy in Buenos 
        Aires to a mosque in Canuelas, Argentina, in the days before the AMIA 
        bombing;
Whereas President Ahmadinejad and President Chavez have forged a close 
        relationship;
Whereas according to the Annual Threat Assessment of the Director of National 
        Intelligence, released on February 5, 2008, Venezuela has greatly 
        increased its cooperation with Iran; and
Whereas according to United States intelligence officials, Iran possesses the 
        potential to use its close relationship with Venezuela to facilitate the 
        smuggling of people, drugs, and weapons into the Western Hemisphere 
        through terrorist proxy groups: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) condemns the anti-Semitic acts in Venezuela;
            (2) expresses its support for all Venezuelan citizens 
        targeted by the Chavez government, including those in the 
        Jewish community, in their daily struggle for freedom, civil 
        liberties, and the protection of the rule of law;
            (3) express its grave concern regarding the increased 
        collaboration between the Iranian regime, its proxy militia 
        Hezbollah, and the Venezuela Government, and the ramifications 
        such collaboration will have on the Jewish community in 
        Venezuela;
            (4) calls on the Government of Venezuela to abide by its 
        international obligations and to protect the rights of the 
        Jewish Venezuelan community, irrespective of their political 
        views;
            (5) urges that the Government of Venezuela takes verifiable 
        steps to ensure the safety of the Jewish community in the 
        country; and
            (6) encourages the President and the Secretary of State to 
        reach out to democracy and human rights activists in Venezuela, 
        and to assist them in their efforts in combating anti-Semitism 
        in Venezuela.
                                 <all>