[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3064-S3065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




REGARDING THE STATUS OF THE INVESTIGATION OF THE BOMBING OF THE ISRAELI 
                    EMBASSY IN BUENOS AIRES IN 1992

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 
that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Senate 
Concurrent Resolution 20, submitted earlier today by Senators 
Brownback, Robb, Helms, and Biden.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 20) expressing the 
     sense of Congress regarding the status of the investigation 
     of the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires in 
     1992.

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent 
the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to 
the resolution appear at this point in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 20) was considered and agreed 
to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 20

       Whereas on March 17, 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Beunos 
     Aires, Argentina, a school, and several nearby buildings were 
     destroyed by a powerful suicide car bomb blast in which 29 
     innocent children, women, and men lost their lives and an 
     additional 252 innocent people were injured;
       Whereas the victims of this terrorist attack included 
     employees of the Israeli Embassy and their families, children 
     from a nearby Roman Catholic primary school, women and men 
     from a nearby Roman Catholic church shelter, a Roman Catholic 
     priest, and people from across the spectrum of Argentine 
     society;
       Whereas Argentina's Jewish community, which numbers 300,000 
     and is the largest Jewish community in Latin American, has 
     suffered severe anti-Semitism during periods of military rule 
     and feels particularly vulnerable to assault from certain 
     radical Islamic groups and from indigenous far right 
     extremists in Argentina;
       Whereas Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the 
     bombing of the Israeli Embassy and praised the name of the 
     alleged suicide bomber, Abu Yasser, by calling him a ``martyr 
     struggler'';
       Whereas Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization that is 
     supported by Iran and, according to Department of State 
     officials, Iranian diplomats collected information to plan 
     the bombing;
       Whereas the failure of Argentine and international efforts 
     to bring the perpetrators of the embassy bombing to justice 
     made Argentina a prime target for a second devastating 
     terrorist attack on July 18, 1994;
       Whereas the second bombing destroyed the Asociacion Mutual 
     Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish Community Center, killing 
     86 people and injuring over 200 people; and

[[Page S3065]]

       Whereas the investigation of the Israeli Embassy bombing 
     has been hampered by the inefficiency of having the entire 
     membership of the Supreme Court of Argentina in charge of the 
     investigation: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) notes that as of March 17, 1997, 5 years after the 
     bombing of the Israeli Embassy and 2\1/2\ years after the 
     bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center, Argentinean 
     police and judicial authorities have not identified and 
     initiated prosecution of the perpetrators of these 2 
     barbarous acts of terrorism;
       (2) urges the Supreme Court of Argentina to designate a 
     single investigative judge to conduct the investigation of 
     the terrorist bombing of the Israeli Embassy in order to 
     improve the efficiency of the inquiry;
       (3) urges Argentinean judicial authorities to aggressively 
     investigate the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center 
     and the possible connection between that bombing and the 
     bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires;
       (4) urges Argentinean authorities to acknowledge publicly 
     the reports submitted by Argentinean, United States, and 
     Israeli experts, that the explosion at the Israeli Embassy 
     took place outside the walls of the embassy;
       (5) urges the President and appropriate executive agencies 
     to provide whatever assistance is requested by Argentinean 
     Government authorities in order to help that Government 
     investigate these 2 acts of terrorism; and
       (6) directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit a copy 
     of this resolution to the Government of Argentina.

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