[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 613 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 613
Urging the governments of Europe and the European Union to designate
Hizballah as a terrorist organization and impose sanctions, and urging
the President to provide information about Hizballah to the European
allies of the United States and to support to the Government of
Bulgaria in investigating the July 18, 2012, terrorist attack in
Burgas.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 11, 2012
Mr. Lieberman (for himself, Mr. Casey, Mr. Risch, Mr. Cardin, Mr.
Rubio, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Collins, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Blumenthal,
Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Inhofe,
Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Tester, Mr. Roberts,
Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Chambliss, Mr. Graham, Mrs.
Gillibrand, Mr. Kyl, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Johnson of
Wisconsin, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Burr, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Johanns,
Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Coons, Mr. Brown of Massachusetts, Mr.
Franken, Ms. Ayotte, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Coats, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Lee,
Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Moran, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Pryor, Mr.
Portman, Mr. Begich, Mr. McCain, Mr. Carper, Mr. Thune, Mr. McConnell,
Mr. Bennet, Mr. Enzi, and Mr. Johnson of South Dakota) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Urging the governments of Europe and the European Union to designate
Hizballah as a terrorist organization and impose sanctions, and urging
the President to provide information about Hizballah to the European
allies of the United States and to support to the Government of
Bulgaria in investigating the July 18, 2012, terrorist attack in
Burgas.
Whereas the Department of State has designated Hizballah as a foreign terrorist
organization since October 1997;
Whereas the United States Government designated Hizballah a specially designated
terrorist organization in January 1995 and a ``Specially Designated
Global Terrorist'' pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (66 Fed. Reg.
49079) in October 2001;
Whereas Hizballah was established in 1982 through the direct sponsorship and
support of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force
and continues to receive training, weapons, and explosives, as well as
political, diplomatic, monetary, and organizational aid, from Iran;
Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in multiple acts of terrorism over the
past 30 years, including the bombings in Lebanon in 1983 of the United
States Embassy, the United States Marine barracks, and the French Army
barracks, the airline hijackings and the kidnapping of European,
American, and other Western hostages in the 1980s and 1990s, and support
of the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans in
1996;
Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on Terrorism issued by the
Department of State, ``Since at least 2004, Hizballah has provided
training to select Iraqi Shia militants, including on the construction
and use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that can penetrate
heavily-armored vehicles.'';
Whereas, in 2007, a senior Hizballah operative, Ali Mussa Daqduq, was captured
in Iraq with detailed documents that discussed tactics to attack Iraqi
and coalition forces, and has been directly implicated in a terrorist
attack that resulted in the murder of 5 members of the United States
Armed Forces;
Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in the terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, on the Israeli Embassy in 1992 and the Argentine Israelite
Mutual Association in 1994;
Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in acts of terrorism and extrajudicial
violence in Lebanon, including the assassination of political opponents;
Whereas, in June 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, an international
tribunal for the prosecution of those responsible for the February 14,
2005, assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri,
issued arrest warrants against 4 senior Hizballah members, including its
top military commander, Mustafa Badr al-Din, identified as the primary
suspect in the assassination;
Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on Terrorism issued by the
Department of State, Hizballah is ``the likely perpetrator'' of 2 bomb
attacks that wounded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)
peacekeepers in Lebanon during 2011;
Whereas, according to the October 18, 2012, report of the Secretary-General of
the United Nations to the United Nations Security Council on the
implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559 (2004) (in this
preamble referred to as the ``October 18 Report''), ``The maintenance by
Hizbullah of sizeable sophisticated military capabilities outside the
control of the Government of Lebanon . . . creates an atmosphere of
intimidation in the country[,] . . . puts Lebanon in violation of its
obligations under Resolution 1559 (2004)[,] and constitutes a threat to
regional peace and stability.'';
Whereas John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and
Counterterrorism, stated on October 26, 2012, that Hizballah's ``social
and political activities must not obscure [its] true nature or prevent
us from seeing it for what it is--an international terrorist
organization actively supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps - Quds Force'';
Whereas David Cohen, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial
Intelligence, stated on August 10, 2012, ``Before al Qaeda's attack on
the U.S. on September 11, 2001, Hizballah was responsible for killing
more Americans in terrorist attacks than any other terrorist group.'';
Whereas, according to a September 13, 2012, Department of the Treasury press
release, ``The last year has witnessed Hizballah's most aggressive
terrorist plotting outside the Middle East since the 1990s.'';
Whereas, since 2011, Hizballah has been implicated in thwarted terrorist plots
in Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Thailand, and elsewhere;
Whereas, on July 18, 2012, a suicide bomber attacked a bus in Burgas, Bulgaria,
murdering 5 Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver in a terrorist
attack that, according to Mr. Brennan, ``bore the hallmarks of a
Hizballah attack'';
Whereas Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated of the Burgas
terrorist attack, ``We have unquestionable, fully substantiated evidence
that this was done by Hizballah backed by Iran.'';
Whereas Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and a member of the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);
Whereas, according to the October 18 Report, ``There have been credible reports
suggesting involvement by Hizbullah and other Lebanese political forces
in support of the parties in the conflict in Syria. . . . Such militant
activities by Hizbullah in Syria contradict and undermine the
disassociation policy of the Government of Lebanon, of which Hizbullah
is a coalition member.'';
Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated, ``We have seen Hizballah
training militants in Yemen and Syria, where it continues to provide
material support to the regime of Bashar al Assad, in part to preserve
its weapon supply lines.'';
Whereas, on August 10, 2012, the Department of the Treasury designated Hizballah
pursuant to Executive Order 13582 (76 Fed. Reg. 52209), which targets
those responsible for human rights abuses in Syria, for providing
support to the Government of Syria;
Whereas, according to the Department of the Treasury, since early 2011,
Hizballah ``has provided training, advice and extensive logistical
support to the Government of Syria's increasingly ruthless effort to
fight against the opposition'' and has ``directly trained Syrian
government personnel inside Syria and has facilitated the training of
Syrian forces by Iran's terrorism arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps - Qods Force'';
Whereas, on September 13, 2012, the Department of the Treasury designated the
Secretary-General of Hizballah, Hasan Nasrallah, for overseeing
``Hizballah's efforts to help the Syrian regime's violent crackdown on
the Syrian civilian population'';
Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated, ``Even in Europe, many
countries . . . have not yet designated Hizballah as a terrorist
organization. Nor has the European Union. Let me be clear: failure to
designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization makes it harder to
defend our countries and protect our citizens. As a result, for example,
countries that have arrested Hizballah suspects for plotting in Europe
have been unable to prosecute them on terrorism charges.''; and
Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan called on the European Union to
designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization, saying, ``European
nations are our most sophisticated and important counterterrorism
partners, and together we must make it clear that we will not tolerate
Hizballah's criminal and terrorist activities.'': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) urges the governments of Europe and the European Union
to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization so that
Hizballah cannot use the territories of the European Union for
fundraising, recruitment, financing, logistical support,
training, and propaganda;
(2) urges the governments of Europe and the European Union
to impose sanctions on Hizballah for providing material support
to Bashar al Assad's ongoing campaign of violent repression
against the people of Syria;
(3) expresses support for the Government of Bulgaria as it
conducts an investigation into the July 18, 2012, terrorist
attack in Burgas, and expresses hope that the investigation can
be successfully concluded and that the perpetrators can be
identified as quickly as possible;
(4) urges the President to provide all necessary
diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement support to the
Government of Bulgaria to investigate the July 18, 2012,
terrorist attack in Burgas;
(5) reaffirms support for the Government of Bulgaria by the
United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), and urges the United States, NATO, and the
European Union to work with the Government of Bulgaria to
safeguard its territory and citizens from the threat of
terrorism; and
(6) urges the President to make available to European
allies and the European public information about Hizballah's
terrorist activities and material support to Bashar al Assad's
campaign of violence in Syria.
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