[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 11 (Thursday, February 12, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       ``EQUALITY FOR ISRAEL AT THE UNITED NATIONS ACT OF 1998''

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. STEVE R. ROTHMAN

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 12, 1998

  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce the ``The 
Equality for Israel at the United Nations Act of 1998.'' With the 
strong support of over 60 original co-sponsors, including both the 
Chairman and Ranking Member of the House International Relations 
Committee, this bill seeks an end to the institutional discrimination 
Israel has faced at the United Nations for far too long.
  Specifically, this bill requires that the Secretary of State report 
on actions taken by our Ambassador to the United Nations to encourage 
the nations of the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG) to accept 
Israel into their group.
  The bill also calls on the Secretary of State to solicit and receive 
responses from each of the nations of WEOG on their position concerning 
Israel's acceptance into their organization. In this manner, Congress 
can know which nations are supporting Israel's admittance to WEOG and 
which nations are opposed.
  As many of my colleagues are already aware, the State of Israel has 
been a member of the UN since 1949. But what my colleagues and the 
American public might not know is that Israel is the only long-standing 
member of the United Nations to be denied acceptance into any of the 
organization's five regional blocs.
  Membership in a regional bloc is critical because it is a 
prerequisite for any nation to serve on the powerful Security Council 
or other key U.N. bodies such as the Economic and Social Council. Due 
to its exclusion from a regional bloc at the United Nations, the State 
of Israel has been precluded from fully participating in the workings 
of that world body.
  This amounts to institutional discrimination against Israel at the 
United Nations.
  The real story here is two-fold: On the one hand there are Arab 
states who have denied Israel the consensus vote it needs to join its 
natural, geographic, regional bloc--the Asian bloc. On the other hand, 
there are the member states of the Western Europe and Others Group, 
otherwise known as the WEOG regional bloc, who have failed to embrace 
Israel's request to temporarily join their grouping.
  This is where the United States must step up and show true 
leadership. And this is why I have introduced ``The Equality for Israel 
at the United Nations Act of 1998.''
  WEOG, to which the U.S. belongs, is one of the five regional blocs at 
the United Nations. Other non-European countries: Western-style 
democracies such as Canada and Australia already belong to the WEOG. 
Israel would be a perfect fit, at least temporarily.
  The issue is not whether Israel deserves to be treated as an equal 
among nations, it surely does. The challenge is how to achieve equality 
at the United Nations. World-wide recognition of Israel as an equal at 
the United Nations would be the right message to send now to help 
advance the struggling Middle East peace process.
  But this is not just an Israel issue, this is a United Nations issue. 
And clearly, Israel's acceptance into the WEOG would be a welcome sign 
of real reform taking place at the United Nations.
  There already has been a groundswell of support in the U.S. Congress 
for this issue. Seventy-six Members of Congress, many of whom serve on 
the House International Relations Committee, joined me and 
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen last year in sending letters to the 
member states of the WEOG, asking them to allow Israel to join the WEOG 
as a temporary member.
  Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and our Ambassador to the 
United Nations, Bill Richardson, both agree that this issue needs to be 
pursued. In fact, Ambassador Richardson told me personally that he will 
work to ``rededicate U.S. efforts on this issue.''
  Supporting Israel's right to be a full member of the United Nations 
is the right thing to do. We owe no less to Israel, a strong U.S. ally, 
and to the United Nations, whose credibility is threatened if all 
countries are not treated as equals.
  For these reasons, I ask my colleagues to lend their support for 
``The Equality for Israel at the United Nations Act of 1998.''

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