[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 97 (Wednesday, July 14, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H5761-H5763]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN SUPPORT OF FULL
MEMBERSHIP OF ISRAEL IN THE WEOG
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree
to the resolution (H. Res. 615) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives in support of full membership of Israel in the Western
European and Others Group (WEOG) at the United Nations, as amended.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 615
Whereas since the mid-1960s, the member states of the
United Nations have been divided into five groups, including
the Western European and Others Group and the African, Asian,
Latin American, and Eastern European groups;
Whereas the United Nations increasingly relies on this
``Group System'' to facilitate its work and two leading
United Nations organs, the General Assembly and the Economic
and Social Council, have passed numerous resolutions granting
this system a central role in United Nations elections;
Whereas Israel has been refused admission to the Asian
Group of the United Nations and is therefore denied the
rights and privileges of full membership in the United
Nations;
Whereas exclusion of Israel violates crucial principles of
the United Nations Charter, including the right of states to
be treated in accordance with the principle of sovereign
equality and the right to vote and participate fully in the
United Nations General Assembly;
Whereas the Bureau of every United Nations conference
comprises one representative from each group in the United
Nations and Israel is therefore denied access to this vital
apparatus enjoyed by other United Nations member states;
Whereas on May 30, 2000, Israel accepted an invitation to
become a temporary member of the Western European and Others
Group at the United Nations;
Whereas Israel's membership in the Western European and
Others Group is limited and, as a temporary member, Israel is
not allowed to compete for open seats or to run for positions
in major bodies of the United Nations, such as the Security
Council, or United Nations-affiliated agencies, such as the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights;
Whereas Israel is only allowed to participate in limited
activities of the Western European and Others Group at the
United Nations headquarters and is excluded from discussions
and consultations of the Group at the United Nations offices
in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna;
Whereas the Western European and Others Group includes
Canada, Australia, and the United States;
Whereas Israel is linked to Western European and Others
Group member states by strong economic, political, and
cultural ties;
Whereas the Western European and Others Group is the only
bloc which is not purely geographical but rather comprises
countries which share a Western democratic tradition; and
Whereas Israel is a free and democratic country and its
voting pattern in the United Nations is consistent with that
of the Western European and Others Group member states: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that--
(1) the President should direct the Secretary of State and
the United States Permanent Representative to the United
Nations to seek an immediate end to the persistent and
deplorable inequality experienced by Israel in the United
Nations;
(2) United States interests would be well served if Israel
were afforded the benefits of full membership in the Western
European and Others Group at the United Nations so that it
could fully participate in the United Nations system;
(3) consistent with section 405(a) of division C of H.R.
1950, as passed the House of Representatives on July 16,
2003, ``the Secretary of State and other appropriate
officials of the United States Government should pursue an
aggressive diplomatic effort and should take all necessary
steps to ensure the extension and upgrade of Israel's
membership in the Western European and Others Group at the
United Nations''; and
(4) the Secretary of State should continue to submit to
Congress on a regular basis a report which describes actions
taken by the United States Government to encourage the
Western European and Others Group member states to accept
Israel as a full member of their group and describes the
responses thereto from the member states.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr.
Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).
General Leave
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend
their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under
consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Florida?
There was no objection.
[[Page H5762]]
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Hyde), and the ranking member of the committee on International
Relations, my good friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos),
and, most importantly, our leadership for bringing House Resolution 615
to the floor tonight. We could not have chosen a better time to
consider this measure in light of the manipulation of the International
Court of Justice by those who seek to deny Israel its sovereign right
of self-defense, who seek to deny Israel the right to protect itself
and her people against the unending attacks launched against it by
Palestinian terrorists.
Later this week, we will see further corruption of the United Nations
General Assembly by anti-Israel, antisemitic forces as they are
expected to bring forth resolutions seeking to force Israel to comply
with the nonbinding opinion issued by the International Court of
Justice on Israel's security barrier.
{time} 2045
This is illustrative of the bias that one of our strongest allies,
Israel, faces within the United Nations system; and it further
demonstrates how Israel's lack of membership in one of the country
groupings of the U.N. places it at a significant disadvantage.
House Resolution 615 seeks to address this problem. It expresses the
sense of the House of Representatives that Israel should enjoy full
membership in the Western European and Others Group, WEOG, at the
United Nations. Simply stated, this resolution seeks to correct the
ongoing discrimination and inequality that Israel has been a victim of
in the United Nations system.
As a first step toward correcting this wrong, on May 30, 2000, Israel
accepted an invitation to become a temporary member of WEOG, which
opened the door to Israeli participation in the U.N. Security Council,
provided Israel is able to retain its status on the WEOG.
Nonetheless, Israel's membership to the WEOG is severely limited, and
every 4 years Israel has to reapply, since its status is only
temporary.
Israel is not allowed to present candidacies for open seats in most
U.N. bodies, and it is not able to compete for leadership positions in
major U.N. organs.
Even its participation in WEOG activities is restricted to U.N.
headquarters in New York; and as such, Israel is unable to fully
participate in discussions and consultations on a number of critical
issues. It is unacceptable that Israel should remain an anomaly in the
community of nations only because certain states refuse to allow it to
occupy its legitimate place in the Asian group of nations.
As long as the United Nations institutional realliance on the
regional system continues, its members are obliged by the principles of
its charter to find a solution to the discrimination against Israel.
The WEOG states can do so without sacrificing their vital interest.
Rather, by admitting Israel, they will gain the addition of another
member to the group of democratic states active in and contributing to
the international organization system.
The WEOG is the only regional group which is not solely based on
geographic considerations. It is composed of a group of states with
Western democratic values as a common denominator. Israel's social/
political orientation is comparable to that of the WEOG states. Its
voting pattern in the United Nations is congruent with that of the WEOG
states. It shares a common cultural ideological outlook with these
countries, and it is linked to them by strong economic ties.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have worked on this resolution with the
distinguished ranking member of the Committee on International
Relations, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). This resolution
enjoys broad bipartisan support with over 40 cosponsors. It was passed
unanimously at both the subcommittee and the full committee markups.
Our interests would be well served if Israel were afforded the benefits
of full membership to the WEOG. It is time to bring an end to the
discrimination that Israel faces in the United Nations system.
As a free nation, Israel deserves our support and that of all
democratic countries. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this
important resolution.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 615, introduced by
the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), my good friend and
distinguished colleague. For years, the democratic nation of Israel has
been relegated to third-class status at the United Nations. Our
resolution seeks to end this outrageous treatment of Israel, and it
will ensure that Israel has the same rights and privileges at the
United Nations in New York as every other nation in the world.
The procedures of the United Nations are an arcane subject, Mr.
Speaker; but it is vital to understand, one fact about that. For a
member state to be able to exercise its full rights and privileges at
the United Nations, for it to participate fully in all U.N. agencies
and activities, it must be a full member of one of the five regional
groupings of the U.N. And of the 191 member states in the U.N., only
one is not a full member of one of the five regional groups. That one
exception is the State of Israel.
Israel's natural geographical home should be in the Asia Group; but
that group, which is dominated by hostile Arab states that refuse to
recognize the State of Israel, rejects the membership of the region's
only democracy, the State of Israel.
This unique and appalling constraint cripples Israel's ability to
exercise normal privileges of U.N. membership. The normal privileges
are enjoyed by every other member, from most democratic to the most
despotic. It precludes Israel from voting in any United Nations body,
except the General Assembly. It precludes Israel from running for a
seat on the Security Council or any major U.N. affiliated agency, or
from otherwise participating fully in the day-to-day work of the United
Nations.
To partially address this ability and after years of United States
efforts, the regional block known as Western Europe and Others Group,
WEOG, granted Israel limited temporary membership 4 years ago; but this
junior-grade membership allows Israel to participate in only some of
the U.N.'s less important activities.
Democratic Israel clearly deserves to be a full member of the WEOG
group. WEOG, unlike any other regional block, is not a geographic
designation. It is a political grouping, including countries such as
the United States, Canada, Australia, along with all the states of
Western Europe.
Does anyone doubt that Israel fully shares the other WEOG states'
core commitments to democracy and Western values? In fact, its voting
record on almost all issues at the United Nations reflects this common
ground with other WEOG states.
Mr. Speaker, it is time for the WEOG group, whose membership roster
is a who's who of our closest allies on this planet, to end the policy
of discrimination against the State of Israel and to grant Israel full
membership. There is simply no excuse for not doing so.
The hypocritical treatment of Israel at the U.N. perhaps tops the
list of the many reasons that this crucial world body so often evokes
well-deserved cynicism and scorn.
Consider this. At this moment, the thugish Sudanese regime that is
responsible for some of the worst violence and ethnic cleansing in the
world today sits at the head of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a
body that democratic Israel cannot even aspire to join. Ask the
thousands of people in Darfur in the western Sudan who have been driven
from their homes into refugee camps by Khartoum-sponsored Arab militias
whether this is fair.
Mr. Speaker, a vote for this resolution is a vote for Israel's full
participation in the U.N. system, a vote for our own national interest,
and a vote for enhanced U.N. credibility. I strongly support this
resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do so.
Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr.
Engel), my good friend and distinguished colleague.
Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the United Nations discredits itself once
again,
[[Page H5763]]
unfortunately, by having one set of rules for Israel and one set of
rules for everyone else; and here is but another example of that kind
of hypocrisy that unfortunately has permeated the United Nations. We
will soon be talking about a ruling by an international court; and when
I spoke about that ruling several days ago on the House floor, I said
that one set of rules for Israel at the U.N. and one set of rules for
everyone else does not help anybody, but just helps to discredit the
United Nations.
Now, there are 191 members of the United Nations, as my friend from
California has pointed out, and only one of them is given third-class
status. Israel has been a member of the United Nations since the
founding of the Jewish state in 1948, and yet it has never been allowed
to serve on the Security Council of the United Nations, where you have
one undemocratic despotic nation after another serving on the Security
Council, sitting on the Human Rights Commission, but not democratic
Israel.
So what this resolution does is it simply expresses the sense of the
House of Representatives in support of full membership of Israel in the
Western European and Others Group at the United Nations. As was pointed
out, this will enable Israel to serve in all bodies of the United
Nations, to have a vote in all bodies of the United Nations, and to
serve on the Security Council if it is elected. If the United Nations
is to be an effective group, then all nations must be treated equally;
and democratic nations such as the state of Israel cannot be allowed to
continue as third-status nations in the U.N.
So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res.
615.
This resolution expresses this House's support for full membership
for Israel in Western European and Other Groups at the United Nations.
Full membership for Israel is long overdue.
Without full membership in a regional group, Israel cannot sit on the
Security Council or other key U.N. bodies, and the Arab states have
barred its membership in the group it geographically belongs in, the
Asian Group.
On May 30, 2000, Israel accepted an invitation to become a temporary
member of Western European and Others, WEOG, regional group.
This historic step helped end at least some of the United Nations'
discriminatory actions against Israel; however, without full
membership, Israel is excluded from much of the U.N's general business
that occurs outside of the General Assembly and Israel is not eligible
to sit on the Security Council.
As a sovereign, democratic state--the only democratic state in the
Middle East--Israel's full participation in the United Nations is an
essential right.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the House's full support of this bill.
Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution and I
thank the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central
Asia for her leadership in bringing H. Res. 615 to the floor. As an
original cosponsor of this resolution I am very pleased that the House
will, I hope, pass the resolution by an overwhelming, if not unanimous
vote.
Israel's isolation at the United Nations puts the lie to claims that
Israel is not held to a double standard and demonstrates clearly that
many of those urbane diplomats who like to talk about peace and
reconciliation cannot even stomach the thought of Israel taking its
rightful place at the U.N. While space is reserved and rights are held
for such pariah states as junta-led Myanmar, dictator-ruled North
Korea, the tyranny of the mullahs in Iran and the Palestinians' own
thugocracy, democratic Israel is uniquely isolated at what is supposed
to be the forum for all nations to deal with each other on equal terms.
Ironically, every day, because of the hostility and prejudice that
precludes Iraeli participation in the Asia regional group, the
credibility and mission of the United Nations is undermined by exactly
those states that call most vigorously for the Arab-Israeli conflict to
be resolved in accordance with the will of the United Nations. The
stench of this hypocrisy easily reaches Washington all the way from
U.N. headquarters in New York City.
The resolution before the House calls for renewed efforts by this
Nation to secure for Israel full membership in the Western Europe and
Others Group at the U.N. the membership bloc our own country belongs
to. Such a step is entirely appropriate given the close ties between
Israel and the other nations in the bloc, as well as shared values and
belief in democracy that characterizes this group's membership at the
UN.
Thanks in large measure to the United States, Israel has, for a short
time, been able to enjoy at least partial membership in the WEOG
regional group. It is time for this half-measure to be replaced with a
lasting and definite full membership. Israel is a country of far
greater economic, political and scientific achievement than many of
those nations that have obstructed full Israeli participation in the
UN. It is more than past time that this grotesque form of
discrimination be ended.
I urge Members to show their strong support for Israel and the true
ideals of the UN by voting in favor of the resolution.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time,
and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Renzi). The question is on the motion
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 615, as
amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of
those present have voted in the affirmative.
Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
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