[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15475-S15476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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   SENATE RESOLUTION 271--URGING THE PRESIDENT AND THE UNITED STATES 
 DIPLOMATIC CORPS TO DISSUADE MEMBER STATES OF THE UNITED NATIONS FROM 
 SUPPORTING RESOLUTIONS THAT UNFAIRLY CASTIGATE ISRAEL AND TO PROMOTE 
     WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY MORE BALANCED AND 
    CONSTRUCTIVE APPROACHES TO RESOLVING CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

  Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Voinovich, and Mr. 
Lautenberg) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 271

       Whereas the United Nations General Assembly and United 
     Nations Security Council have over a period of many years 
     engaged in a pattern of introducing and enacting measures and 
     resolutions unfairly castigating and condemning the state of 
     Israel;
       Whereas despite the myriad of challenges facing the world 
     community, the United Nations General Assembly has devoted a 
     disproportionate amount of time and resources to castigating 
     Israel;
       Whereas during the fifty-seventh session of the United 
     Nations General Assembly, the General Assembly adopted a 
     total of 69 resolutions by roll call vote, 22 of which 
     related to Israel;
       Whereas many member states of the United Nations General 
     Assembly continue to engage in a discriminatory campaign 
     against Israel, including enacting on October 21, 2003 a 
     resolution that condemns Israeli security measures without 
     proportional condemnation of terrorist attacks launched 
     against Israel;
       Whereas the discriminatory voting patterns in the United 
     Nations have historically been driven by voting blocs and 
     ideological divides originating from Cold War rivalries that 
     are obsolete in the post-Cold War period; and
       Whereas in the post-Cold War geopolitical environment, the 
     United States has a special responsibility to promote fair 
     and equitable treatment of all nations in the context of 
     international institutions, including the United Nations: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate urges the President and all 
     members of the United States diplomatic corps--
       (1) to dissuade member states of the United Nations from 
     voting in support of General Assembly resolutions that 
     unfairly castigate Israel; and
       (2) to promote within the United Nations General Assembly 
     more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving 
     conflict in the Middle East.

  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, today I am proud to submit, along with my 
good friend and colleague Senator Corzine, a bipartisan resolution 
dealing with the unfair treatment of Israel at the United Nations.
  For too long, Israel has been singled out for castigation by the 
United Nations General Assembly. Israeli defensive actions are 
condemned, while terrorism against Israeli civilians goes largely 
unnoticed. There are whole bodies designed to do nothing but produce 
anti-Israel materials. There is a Division of Palestinian Rights which 
sits at the same level in the U.N. organization as a single division 
for the Americas and Europe, a single division for Asia and the 
Pacific, and two Africa divisions. Of all the resolutions adopted by 
rollcall vote at the last session of the UN General Assembly, one-third 
singled out Israel.
  Let me be clear on this point: I do think it is appropriate to help 
the Palestinian people, and I do share President Bush's vision of two 
states living side by side in peace.
  But for the United Nations to spend so much of its time on this one 
crisis, with an unbalanced approach, ultimately undermines its ability 
to contribute constructively to the peace process. To accord the 
Palestinian people--however serious their problems are the same level 
of attention as entire continents is inappropriate in a world where 
there are so many other oppressed groups and nations. Why is there no 
Division of Tibetan Rights? Why no Division of Chechen Rights?
  If you look at the General Assembly voting records, there are too 
many one-sided resolutions dealing with Israel that pass with only a 
handful of negative votes--cast by the U.S., Israel, Micronesia, the 
Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau. Last Friday, I was pleased to note 
Australia joined us as well.
  The good news is that we are starting to see some progress. A joint 
U.S.-European-Israeli effort to consolidate seven resolutions on UNRWA 
into one resolution recently was a good start. The resolution was 
passed out of the committee by a vote of 109 to 0, albeit with 54 
abstentions. True, several superfluous resolutions on UNRWA were also 
approved by the committee. But this year, it was five resolutions 
instead of seven.
  When the U.S., Europe, and Israel can work together on a resolution 
dealing with Palestinian refugees--and one that is passed without any 
negative votes--we get a glimpse of the U.N.'s potential for bringing 
parties together.
  I would be remiss if I did not commend the work of U.S. diplomats, 
and applaud their increased attention to this issue. This resolution 
gives them a tool to use with their diplomatic counterparts--a strong 
statement from the U.S. Senate that we are paying attention to these 
votes, and that we support a more balanced approach toward the Middle 
East at the United Nations.
  It should be a goal we can all agree upon. By reducing the number of 
anti-Israel resolutions passed by the General Assembly, the United 
Nations can live up to the promise of its charter: ``to practice 
tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good 
neighbors.''
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, today, along with Senators Coleman, 
Lautenberg and Voinovich, I am submitting a resolution to address a 
serious and persistent problem: the unfair and inequitable treatment of 
Israel in the United

[[Page S15476]]

Nations. The resolution urges the President and all members of the 
United States diplomatic corps to dissuade member states of the United 
Nations from voting in support of General Assembly resolutions that 
unfairly castigate Israel, and to promote within the United Nations 
General Assembly more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving 
conflict in the Middle East.
  On October 21, 2003, the United Nations General Assembly ratified a 
resolution condemning Israeli security measures. The resolution did not 
call on the Palestinian Authority to dismantle terrorist organizations, 
nor did it name those organizations. Yet it passed by a vote of 144-4, 
with 12 abstentions. Other than the United States, only Micronesia, the 
Marshall Islands, and Israel itself voted against the resolution.
  This resolution was only the latest in a long line of General 
Assembly resolutions castigating Israel with little regard to the 
security threats that Israel faces. For decades, the Assembly has 
devoted a disproportionate amount of time and resources to resolutions 
related to Israel--conducting, for example, 22 rollcall votes on UN 
General Assembly resolutions that related to Israel out of the 69 for 
all of the 57th Session of the Assembly. Besides distracting the United 
Nations from the countless other critical issues the world faces, these 
resolutions undermine efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East by 
casting blame almost entirely on one party. They are also unfair in 
that they subject Israel to discriminatory treatment not accorded to 
any other member state of the UN.
  It is long past time for the General Assembly to stop ratifying these 
biased, unproductive resolutions. Voting patterns that discriminate 
against Israel appeared during the Cold War, when conflict in the 
Middle East was fueled by the rivalry between the West and the Soviet 
bloc. The Cold War has ended. So, too, should the polarization it 
engendered. We have also seen new alliances and relationships emerge in 
the global war on terrorism, and have witnessed the world come together 
in condemning terrorist violence. I refer to UN Security Council 
Resolution 1373, passed on September 28, 2001, which reaffirmed that 
any act of international terrorism constitutes a threat to 
international peace and security and called on states to work together 
to prevent and suppress terrorist acts.
  Resolution 1373 reminded us of what the United Nations was meant to 
be--a forum for the world to come together to identify common threats 
and find common ways to address them. It offered the hope of a world 
united in its resolve to fight terrorism, with the United States 
leading that fight--in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world 
where international terrorists operate.
  It is therefore with great disappointment that we witness business as 
usual at the General Assembly. The spirit of unity that prevailed for a 
time after September 11 has not led to a common approach to the 
conflict in the Middle East, and the United States has thus far been 
unable to enlist its friends and allies in its effort to ensure that 
Israel is treated fairly.
  Since the inception of the United Nations, the United States has 
played a unique and critical role in ensuring that the U.N. lives up to 
the promise of its Charter--to maintain peace and security. As the sole 
remaining superpower, we have an opportunity to shape a global 
consensus on terrorism and security, one that requires new, more 
productive approaches to the conflict in the Middle East. This requires 
that we recognize the harm that comes from repeated, biased 
condemnations of a valuable ally in the United Nations General 
Assembly. It also requires sustained efforts, in the United Nations and 
within our bilateral and multilateral relationships, to change the 
voting patterns of friends, allies, and other member states.
  We must bring our own values and our own vision of peace and security 
to the United Nations. Voting against resolutions that unfairly 
castigate Israel is not enough, particularly when we find ourselves in 
a tiny minority. We must seek to ally the world with us on this 
critical matter. The resolution we are introducing today thus urges the 
President and all members of the United States diplomatic corps to 
dissuade member states of the United Nations from voting in support of 
General Assembly resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel, and to 
promote within the Nations General assembly more balanced and 
constructive approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.
  The United Nations can be--must be--a forum for defending our values. 
Through committed leadership, we can begin to change how other 
countries approach the General Assembly and how they vote on issues 
related to the Middle East. By doing so, we will be taking an important 
step toward peace.

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