[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 96 (Thursday, July 1, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8189-S8190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE WITH RESPECT TO UNITED NATIONS 
                  GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION ES-10/6

  Mr. GORTON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar No. 185, S. Res. 
119.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 119) expressing the sense of the 
     Senate with respect to United Nations General Assembly 
     Resolution ES-10/6.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. GORTON. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, 
the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and any statements relating to this resolution be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection,it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 119) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 119

       Whereas in an Emergency Special Session, the United Nations 
     General Assembly voted on February 9, 1999, to pass 
     Resolution ES-10/6, ``Illegal Israeli Actions In Occupied 
     East Jerusalem And The Rest Of The Occupied Palestinian 
     Territory'', to convene for the first time in 50 years the 
     parties of the Fourth Geneva Conference for the Protection of 
     Civilians in Time of War;
       Whereas such resolution unfairly places full blame for the 
     deterioration of the Middle East Peace Process on Israel and 
     dangerously politicizes the Geneva Convention, which was 
     established to deal with critical humanitarian crises; and
       Whereas such vote is intended to prejudge direct 
     negotiations, put additional and undue pressure on Israel to 
     influence the results of those negotiations, and single out 
     Israel for unprecedented enforcement proceedings which have 
     never been invoked against governments with records of 
     massive violations of the Geneva Convention: Now, therefore, 
     be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the Department of State for the vote of the 
     United States against United Nations General Assembly 
     Resolution ES-10/6 affirming that the text of such resolution 
     politicizes the Fourth Geneva Convention

[[Page S8190]]

     which was primarily humanitarian in nature;
       (2) urges the Department of State to continue its efforts 
     against convening the conference; and
       (3) urges the Swiss government, as the depositary of the 
     Geneva Convention, not to convene a meeting of the Fourth 
     Geneva Convention.

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