[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 798 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 798

Affirming the votes of the eight countries including the United States 
   opposing the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly resolution titled, 
 ``Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including 
          east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan''.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2016

  Mr. Fleming (for himself, Mr. Engel, Mr. Zeldin, and Mr. Brendan F. 
 Boyle of Pennsylvania) submitted the following resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

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                               RESOLUTION


 
Affirming the votes of the eight countries including the United States 
   opposing the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly resolution titled, 
 ``Health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory, including 
          east Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan''.

Whereas the World Health Assembly is the decisionmaking body of the World Health 
        Organization and sets policies for the Organization;
Whereas the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly adopted several resolutions, with 
        topics spanning from the prevention and control of non-communicable 
        diseases, ending childhood obesity, air pollution, and healthy aging;
Whereas the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly adopted its only country-specific 
        resolution requesting the Director-General ``to report and make 
        practical recommendations on the health conditions in the occupied 
        Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the occupied 
        Syrian Golan'', at the next annual World Health Assembly;
Whereas the resolution uniquely singles out the State of Israel, diverting 
        resources from global health challenges towards a politically motivated 
        agenda;
Whereas seven nations joined the United States in condemning this resolution, 
        Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Israel, Micronesia (Federated States of), 
        Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay;
Whereas the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly ignored the public health crisis 
        caused by the violence in Syria, which has seen outbreaks of polio, 
        leishmaniasis, and cholera, and where regime and associated forces have 
        targeted medical facilities and providers, leaving Syrians with fewer 
        places to access care;
Whereas the State of Israel continues to provide medical care to Palestinians 
        and facilitate workshops for Palestinian health care professionals;
Whereas the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Unit (COGAT) 
        reported ``over 190,000 entrances from the West Bank into Israel for 
        Palestinians receiving medical treatment in Israel and their companions 
        in 2015'';
Whereas Israel continues to treat Syrians fleeing the Syrian civil war in 
        hospitals that Israel erected on its border with Syria for that purpose;
Whereas the World Health Organization adopted similar country-specific and 
        biased resolutions targeting Israel at the Sixty-seventh World Health 
        Assembly in 2014, and again at the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly in 
        2015; and
Whereas the United States has consistently remained opposed to these resolutions 
        noting that the resolutions are inconsistent ``with the shared objective 
        of a Health Assembly focused purely on public health that refrained from 
        singling out countries on a political basis'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) affirms the votes of the eight countries including the 
        United States opposing the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly 
        resolution titled, ``Health conditions in the occupied 
        Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem, and in the 
        occupied Syrian Golan'';
            (2) urges the World Health Assembly to annul the 
        aforementioned resolution; and
            (3) urges the World Health Organization to abide by their 
        stated goals of leadership on critical health matters and cease 
        engagement on matters of political nature.
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