[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1231 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1231

Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish 
     Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994 and 
 expressing the concern of the United States regarding the continuing, 
   28-year-long delay in the resolution of this case and encouraging 
                     accountability for the attack.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 18, 2022

 Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Deutch, Mr. Diaz-Balart, and 
 Mr. Espaillat) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                  to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish 
     Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994 and 
 expressing the concern of the United States regarding the continuing, 
   28-year-long delay in the resolution of this case and encouraging 
                     accountability for the attack.

Whereas, 28 years ago, on July 18, 1994, 85 innocent people were killed and 300 
        were injured when the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA) was 
        bombed in Buenos Aires, Argentina;
Whereas the AMIA bombing was the deadliest attack on Jewish people outside 
        Israel since the Holocaust;
Whereas it is reported that considerable evidence links the attack to the 
        terrorist group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, supported by the 
        Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, and sponsored by the Government 
        of the Islamic Republic of Iran;
Whereas, 2 years earlier, Hezbollah operatives also blew up the Israeli embassy 
        in Buenos Aires, killing 29 civilians;
Whereas the 28 years since the bombing have been marked by a failure to bring 
        those responsible, including Iranian officials and their Hezbollah 
        proxies, to justice;
Whereas, in September 2004, ten years after the attack, Alberto Nisman was 
        appointed as the Special Prosecutor in charge of the 1994 AMIA bombing 
        investigation;
Whereas, in October 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto Nisman and Marcelo 
        Martinez Burgos formally accused the Iranian regime of directing the 
        bombing, and the Hezbollah militia of carrying it out;
Whereas Ibrahim Hussein Berro, a member of the terrorist group Hezbollah, was 
        identified as the AMIA bomber;
Whereas, in November 2006, an Argentine judge issued arrest warrants for 8 
        Iranian nationals, including high-ranking government and military 
        officials, and one Lebanese national who were named as suspects in the 
        AMIA bombing;
Whereas, in November 2007, Interpol voted to put the following suspects in the 
        1994 AMIA attack on its most wanted list--Ali Fallahijan, Mohsen 
        Rabbani, Ahmad Reza Asghari, Ahmad Vahidi, and Mohsen Razaee from Iran 
        and Imad Fayez Moughnieh from Lebanon;
Whereas Interpol currently has four red alerts in place in relation to the AMIA 
        attack;
Whereas, on January 13, 2015, prosecutor Alberto Nisman alleged in a complaint 
        that then-Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and then-
        Minister of Foreign Relations Hector Timerman conspired to cover up 
        Iranian involvement in the 1994 terrorist bombing, and reportedly agreed 
        to negotiate immunity for Iranian suspects and help get their names 
        removed from the Interpol list;
Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was scheduled to present his new findings to 
        the Argentinian Congress on January 19, 2015;
Whereas prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found shot in the head in his apartment in 
        Buenos Aires on January 18, 2015;
Whereas the investigation of the AMIA bombing has been marked by judicial 
        misconduct and undue influence;
Whereas no Iranian suspects for the AMIA bombing have yet faced prosecution;
Whereas former Federal judge Juan Jose Galeano and former State Intelligence 
        Secretariat intelligence head Hugo Anzorreguy have both been convicted 
        and sentenced to prison for subverting the investigation and miscarriage 
        of justice;
Whereas Carlos Telleldin was convicted and sentenced to prison for his role in 
        assisting the perpetrators carry out their heinous attack;
Whereas, in 2020, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez reaffirmed the 
        commitment of the Argentine Republic to bring those responsible for the 
        attack to justice;
Whereas, in 2021, Ahmad Vahidi and Mohsen Rezai, two Iranian suspects from the 
        1994 bombing, were appointed by President Ebrahim Raisi and confirmed by 
        the Islamic Consultative Assembly to the Iranian Cabinet;
Whereas, in 2019, the Argentine Government declared Hezbollah a terrorist 
        organization, expelled all members of the organization from the country, 
        and froze their assets in Argentina; and
Whereas today, Argentina is home to over 250,000 Jewish people, making it the 
        largest home to Jews in Latin America and the sixth-largest in the 
        world: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) condemns the 1994 attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual 
        Association Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 
        and honors the victims of this heinous act;
            (2) expresses sympathy to the relatives of the victims, who 
        have waited for over a quarter of a century without justice for 
        the loss of their loved ones, and may have to wait even longer 
        for justice to be served;
            (3) underscores the concern of the United States regarding 
        the continuing, 28-year-long delay in the proper resolution of 
        this case; and
            (4) calls for the perpetrators of this horrific act, 
        including Iranian and Hezbollah operatives, to be held 
        accountable for their crimes.
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