[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 97 (Friday, July 21, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S8104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 113--CONGRATULATING THE MAGEN DAVID ADOM 
 SOCIETY IN ISRAEL FOR ACHIEVING FULL MEMBERSHIP IN THE INTERNATIONAL 
      RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mrs. CLINTON (for herself and Mrs. Dole) submitted the following 
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 113

       Whereas international humanitarian law is, 
     quintessentially, about principle, establishing standards of 
     conduct that can not be breached under any circumstance, or 
     for any calculation of political efficacy or utility;
       Whereas the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
     Movement is a worldwide institution in which all national Red 
     Cross and Red Crescent societies have equal status, whose 
     mission is to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever 
     it may be found, without discrimination;
       Whereas the Magen David Adom (Red Shield of David) Society 
     is the national humanitarian society in Israel and has 
     performed heroically, aiding all in need of assistance, on a 
     purely humanitarian basis, without bias, even those 
     responsible for acts of horrific violence against Israeli 
     civilians;
       Whereas, since 1949, the Magen David Adom Society has been 
     refused admission into the International Red Cross and Red 
     Crescent Movement and has been relegated to observer status 
     without a vote because it has used the Red Shield of David, 
     the only such national organization denied membership in the 
     Movement;
       Whereas the red cross symbol was intended as the visible 
     expression of the neutral status enjoyed by the medical 
     services of the armed forces and the protection thus 
     conferred, and there is not, and has never been, any implicit 
     religious connection in the cross;
       Whereas, since its establishment in 1930, the Magen David 
     Adom Society has worked under its own symbol, the Red Star of 
     David, as an expression of the humanitarian values the Magen 
     David Adom Society shares with the Red Cross and Red Crescent 
     societies;
       Whereas Israel acceded to the Geneva Conventions in 1951 
     with a reservation specifying their intent to continue to use 
     the Magen David Adom;
       Whereas international consultations among nations and 
     national Red Cross Societies ensued until 1999, when the 
     International Committee of the Red Cross formally called for 
     adoption of a protocol to the Geneva Conventions creating a 
     third neutral symbol, allowing the use of either the Red 
     Cross, the Red Crescent, or the third neutral symbol, and 
     allowing for the third neutral symbol to be used in 
     combination with other national Red Cross Society symbols, 
     including the Magen David Adom;
       Whereas a diplomatic conference to adopt this proposal into 
     the Geneva Conventions was scheduled for October 2000, but 
     was prevented by the outbreak of the second Palestinian 
     intifada;
       Whereas the United States, the American Red Cross, and the 
     American Friends of Magen David Adom have worked ceaselessly 
     to resolve the issue of the third neutral symbol and achieve 
     full membership in the International Red Cross and Red 
     Crescent Movement for the Magen David Adom Society;
       Whereas Congress has insisted that funds made available to 
     the International Committee of the Red Cross be contingent on 
     a certification by the Secretary of State confirming that the 
     Magen David Adom Society is a full participant in the 
     activities of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent 
     Movement;
       Whereas the American Red Cross has stood alone among all 
     the national humanitarian aid societies, and has withheld 
     over $45,000,000 in dues to the International Federation of 
     the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to protest the 
     exclusion of the Magen David Adom;
       Whereas the Government of Switzerland, the depositary state 
     for the Geneva Conventions, convened a Diplomatic Conference 
     of the states party to the Geneva Conventions in December 
     2005 for the purpose of adopting a Third Additional Protocol 
     and rightly resisted efforts to block the broad international 
     consensus in favor of resolving the third neutral symbol 
     question;
       Whereas the efforts by the United States and the American 
     Red Cross at the Diplomatic Conference in December 2005 were 
     critical to achieving both an overwhelming positive vote in 
     favor of adopting the Third Additional Protocol, as well as 
     an extremely important memorandum of understanding between 
     the Magen David Adom and the Palestinian Red Crescent 
     Society;
       Whereas sustaining international support for the adoption 
     of the third neutral symbol against efforts to divert the 
     conference into unrelated political matters required 
     extraordinary diplomatic efforts by the United States and the 
     American Red Cross;
       Whereas the Third Additional Protocol adopted in Geneva in 
     December 2005 established the new third neutral symbol, the 
     ``red crystal'' that can be used in conjunction with the Red 
     Shield of David and cleared the way for Israeli membership in 
     the international movement;
       Whereas, in June 2006, the states party to the Geneva 
     Conventions, the national humanitarian aid societies, the 
     International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent 
     Societies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross 
     met in Geneva to adopt rules implementing the Third 
     Additional Protocol; and
       Whereas, at the June 2006 meeting in Geneva, the 
     International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement accepted 
     the Magen David Adom Society as a full member: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) commends the Magen David Adom Society for its long and 
     distinguished record of providing humanitarian assistance to 
     all those in need of aid, even those responsible for heinous 
     atrocities against Israeli civilians;
       (2) congratulates the Magen David Adom Society, and the 
     Government and people of Israel, for securing full membership 
     in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, 57 
     years past due;
       (3) thanks the President, the Secretary of State, and 
     United States diplomatic representatives for their tireless 
     pursuit and maintenance of the international consensus that 
     culminated in the recent acceptance of the Magen David Adom 
     Society as a full member in the International Red Cross and 
     Red Crescent Movement;
       (4) thanks the American Red Cross for its unwavering and 
     unyielding insistence within the International Red Cross and 
     Red Crescent Movement that the principles of international 
     humanitarian law could not be reconciled with continued 
     exclusion of the Magen David Adom Society;
       (5) thanks the Government of Switzerland and officials of 
     the International Committee of the Red Cross for helping to 
     prepare the necessary consensus and carrying to completion 
     the adoption of the Third Additional Protocol by the states 
     party to the Geneva Conventions and the rules for its 
     implementation; and
       (6) commends the President for--
       (A) submitting the Third Additional Protocol to the Senate 
     for its advice and consent; and
       (B) pending approval by the Senate, preparing for 
     congressional consideration and enactment of legislation 
     necessary to carry into effect the Third Additional Protocol.

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