[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 100 (Wednesday, June 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1356]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CALLING ON UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL TO CHARGE IRANIAN PRESIDENT 
 WITH CERTAIN VIOLATIONS BECAUSE OF HIS CALLS FOR DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL

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                               speech of

                           HON. RAHM EMANUEL

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 18, 2007

  Mr. EMANUEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Con. Res. 21, 
a resolution calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge 
Iranian President e.g. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 
and the United Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction 
of the State of Israel.
  The 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
Genocide defines genocide as, among other things, the act of killing 
members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group with the 
intent to destroy the targeted group.
  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly made 
inflammatory and hateful comments regarding Israel, including direct 
statements calling for the destruction of Israel, an act of genocide. 
In 2005, he called for Israel to be `wiped off the map' and led a group 
of students in chants of `death to Israel'. Furthermore, the Iranian 
president has questioned the history of the Holocaust, an insult to the 
millions of men and women who perished as a result of that genocide.
  These comments are not only hateful and unacceptable, but his 
comments threaten the security of Israel. As Iran funds, trains, and 
openly supports terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and 
Islamic Jihad, that are determined to destroy Israel, Ahmadinejad's 
words raise concern on Iran's intentions. We must send a clear message 
to Iran and its President: we condemn your dangerous and reckless 
remarks.
  As a member of the United Nations, the President of Iran's comments 
violate U.N. rules and must be dealt with decisively by the United 
Nations leadership and all those in the Security Council.
  I want to thank the gentleman from New York, Mr. Rothman, for his 
hard work on this resolution, and I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this resolution to call on the United Nations Security 
Council to hold Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accountable for 
his intolerable words that call for the destruction of the State of 
Israel.

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