[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1266 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1266

Condemning the attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association Jewish 
     Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994 and 
               encouraging accountability for the attack.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 31, 2024

Ms. Wasserman Schultz (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Espaillat, and 
 Mr. Tony Gonzales of Texas) 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 
               encouraging accountability for the attack.

Whereas, 30 years ago, on July 18, 1994, 85 innocent people were killed and 300 
        were injured when the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (hereinafter 
        referred to as ``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 Iran, a United 
        States-designated state sponsor of terrorism since 1984;
Whereas, 2 years earlier, Hezbollah operatives also blew up the Israeli embassy 
        in Buenos Aires, killing 29 civilians and injuring 242;
Whereas the 30 years since the bombing have been marred by a failure to bring 
        those responsible, including Iran-backed operatives and their Hezbollah 
        proxies, to justice;
Whereas, in September 2004, 10 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 5 red alerts in place in relation to the AMIA 
        attack;
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 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 concealing 
        evidence;
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;
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, 2 Iranian suspects from the 
        1994 bombing, were appointed by Iran's Ebrahim Raisi, and confirmed by 
        the Islamic Consultative Assembly, to the Iranian Cabinet;
Whereas, on April 12, 2024, Argentina's highest criminal court, the Argentine 
        Court of Cassation, broke the extended silence of the justice system by 
        affirming Iran's responsibility for the deadly bombing and declaring it 
        a ``crime against humanity'';
Whereas, according to news reports of the ruling, the court identified ``top 
        Iranian officials and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard commanders in its 
        determination that Iran carried out the bombings in response to 
        Argentina scrapping three contracts that would have provided Tehran with 
        nuclear technology in the mid-1980s'';
Whereas Argentine President Javier Milei commended the high court's ruling, 
        noting that the determination was a ``significant step'' that put an end 
        to decades of ``delays and cover-ups'';
Whereas leaders in the Argentine Jewish community, including AMIA President Amos 
        Linetzky, noted that the historic ruling would finally provide an 
        opportunity for survivors and relatives of victims to seek legal action 
        against Iran;
Whereas the Foreign Ministry of Argentina responded to the court's ruling by 
        requesting that INTERPOL issue an immediate international arrest notice 
        for Ahmad Vahidi, who is now the Iranian Interior Minister, ``as one of 
        those responsible for the attack on AMIA''; 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 3 decades 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, 30-year-long delay in the proper resolution of 
        this case;
            (4) calls for the perpetrators of this horrific act, 
        including Iranian and Hezbollah operatives, to be held 
        accountable for their crimes;
            (5) demands that INTERPOL member countries comply with 
        arrest orders for individuals responsible for the deadly attack 
        on the AMIA Jewish Community Center; and
            (6) stands in solidarity with the Jewish community of 
        Argentina and the broader Latin American and Caribbean Jewish 
        diaspora at a time of surging antisemitism around the world.
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