[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 567 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 567

   Clarifying that it is United States policy to recognize Israel's 
                  sovereignty over the Golan Heights.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 26, 2019

   Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cramer, and Mr. 
    Graham) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   Clarifying that it is United States policy to recognize Israel's 
                  sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That it is the sense of 
the Senate that--

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On September 1, 1975, President Gerald Ford provided a 
        diplomatic assurance to Israel that ``the U.S. will support the 
        position that an overall settlement with Syria in the framework 
        of a peace agreement must assure Israel's security from attack 
        from the Golan Heights [and] it will give great weight to 
        Israel's position that any peace agreement with Syria must be 
        predicated on Israel remaining on the Golan Heights''.
            (2) In October 1991, Secretary of State James Baker 
        provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that ``the United 
        States continues to stand behind the assurance given by 
        President Ford to Prime Minister Rabin on September 1, 1975''.
            (3) Iran has used the war in Syria to establish a long-term 
        military presence in the Levant, to attack Israel from across 
        the Golan Heights, and to create territorial corridors that 
        allow it to provide arms to its troops and terrorist proxies.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) Israel's security from attacks from Syria and Lebanon 
        cannot be assured without Israeli sovereignty over the Golan 
        Heights; and
            (2) in light of new realities on the ground, including 
        Iran's presence in Syria--
                    (A) it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of 
                a peace agreement between Israel and Syria will be an 
                Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights; and
                    (B) it is realistic to expect that any peace 
                agreement between Israel and Syria will only be 
                achieved on the basis of Israel remaining on the Golan 
                Heights; and
            (3) it is in the United States national security interest 
        to ensure that--
                    (A) Israel retains control of the Golan Heights; 
                and
                    (B) the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad faces 
                diplomatic and geopolitical consequences for its 
                killing of civilians, the ethnic cleansing of Arab 
                Sunnis, and the use of weapons of mass destruction.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF UNITED STATES POLICY.

    It shall be the policy of the United States--
            (1) to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan 
        Heights; and
            (2) to promote and conduct joint projects with Israel on 
        the Golan Heights, including projects--
                    (A) in basic and applied scientific fields;
                    (B) in industrial research and development; and
                    (C) in strategic and applied research of 
                agricultural problems.

SEC. 4. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    Any reference to ``Israel'' in any existing or future Act of 
Congress relating to appropriations or foreign commerce, including 
customs and international trade, shall be interpreted to include the 
Golan Heights.
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