[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 155 (Monday, October 15, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11498-H11501]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING THE STATE OF ISRAEL ON CHAIRING A UNITED NATIONS 
                COMMITTEE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to 
the resolution (H. Res. 624) congratulating the State of Israel on 
chairing a United Nations committee for the first time in history, as 
amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The text of the resolution is as follows:

                              H. Res. 624

       Whereas Israel joined the United Nations in 1949, as the 
     59th member of that organization;
       Whereas the preamble of the Charter of the United Nations 
     stated that its objective was to ``to save succeeding 
     generations from the scourge of war . . . and to reaffirm 
     faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth 
     of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and 
     of nations large and small . . .'';
       Whereas the United Nations has failed to live up to its 
     goal to promote equal rights among states, as enshrined in 
     its charter, in the case of Israel;
       Whereas the democratic State of Israel is denied full 
     representation within the United Nations, and its constituent 
     agencies and bodies, yet repressive regimes in violation of 
     United Nations human rights principles are afforded full 
     rights and privileges;
       Whereas in May 2000, Israel accepted an invitation to 
     become a temporary member of the United Nations' Western 
     European and Others Group (WEOG), and in May 2004, Israel was 
     granted an indefinite extension of its qualified membership 
     in WEOG;
       Whereas since Israel was accepted as part of WEOG in 2000, 
     it has had the right to apply for positions on United Nations 
     committees;
       Whereas the State of Israel is the only member of WEOG in a 
     conditional status;
       Whereas Israel is excluded from discussions and 
     consultations of WEOG at the United Nations offices in 
     Geneva, Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna;
       Whereas Israel has been refused admission to the Asian 
     States Group of the United Nations, thereby being denied the 
     rights and privileges of full membership in the United 
     Nations;
       Whereas Israel has submitted its candidacy for membership 
     on the United Nations Security Council for 2019 and hopes to 
     gain the full participation rights in the United Nations to 
     which it is entitled as a sovereign state;
       Whereas at the opening of the 61st United Nations General 
     Assembly in 2006, former United Nations Secretary-General 
     Kofi Annan stated that ``supporters of Israel feel that it is 
     harshly judged by standards that are not applied to its 
     enemies . . . and too often this is true, particularly in 
     some UN bodies'';
       Whereas Israel has played an active role in the 
     international community and within the United Nations;
       Whereas Israel already sits on several important committees 
     in the United Nations, and representatives from Israel have 
     served as deputy chairs in the United Nations numerous times;
       Whereas Israelis were first elected to notable United 
     Nations positions in 1994, including the high administrative 
     tribunal at the Hague, Vice Chair of the World Health 
     Organization's Executive Committee and the Human Rights 
     Committee, in June 2005 Israel's Ambassador to the United 
     Nations, Dan Gillerman, was appointed one of the 21 new vice 
     presidents of the General Assembly, and in July 2005, Israel 
     was elected to deputy chairmanship of the United Nations 
     Disarmament Commission (UNDC);
       Whereas, on June 19, 2007, for the first time since Israel 
     joined the United Nations, an Israeli diplomat, Mr. Ron Adam, 
     Director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's United Nations 
     Political Affairs Department, was chosen to chair a United 
     Nations committee, the Committee on Program and Coordination 
     (CPC);

[[Page H11499]]

       Whereas this 33 member body (composed of Argentina, 
     Armenia, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, the Republic of 
     Central Africa, China, Comoros, Cuba, France, Ghana, Haiti, 
     India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, 
     Pakistan, Portugal, Korea, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, 
     Switzerland, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, United States, and 
     Israel) approves the work plan for all United Nations 
     agencies and bodies;
       Whereas Israel's first unique appointment to chair a United 
     Nations committee will hopefully encourage the normalization 
     of Israel's bilateral and multilateral relations and 
     challenge future disproportionate United Nations condemnation 
     of Israel;
       Whereas anti-Semitic rhetoric and sentiment within United 
     Nations fora have been of grave concern to the United States 
     and other responsible nations;
       Whereas United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 
     (1975) concluded that ``Zionism is a form of racism and 
     racial discrimination'' and the General Assembly, by a vote 
     of 111-25, revoked Resolution 3379 in 1991 in response to 
     strong leadership by the United States;
       Whereas the goals of the 2001 United Nations World 
     Conference Against Racism were undermined by hateful, anti-
     Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israel political agendas, prompting 
     both Israel and the United States to withdraw their 
     delegations from the Conference;
       Whereas, in 2004, at the first United Nations Department of 
     Public Information Seminar on Anti-Semitism, former United 
     Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan acknowledged that ``the 
     United Nations' record on anti-Semitism has at times fallen 
     short of our ideals''; and
       Whereas, in 2005, the United Nations held an unprecedented 
     session to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation 
     of the Auschwitz concentration camp: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
       (1) congratulates the Government and people of the State of 
     Israel on Israel's first ever appointment to chair a United 
     Nations committee;
       (2) supports continued expansion of Israel's role at the 
     United Nations;
       (3) welcomes recent attempts by the United Nations to 
     address the issue of prevailing anti-Semitism;
       (4) calls on the United Nations to officially and publicly 
     condemn anti-Semitic statements made at all United Nations 
     meetings and hold accountable United Nations Member States 
     that make such statements;
       (5) urges the members of the United Nations' Western 
     European and Others Group (WEOG) to extend full and permanent 
     membership to Israel, without conditions, until such time as 
     Israel can serve as an effective member of the Asian States 
     Group of the United Nations; and
       (6) calls upon United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon 
     to continue to work to end any unfair vilification of Israel 
     at the United Nations and ensure Israel's full participation 
     in, and access to, all international fora under United 
     Nations auspices.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Ackerman) and the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Wilson) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days 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 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this 
resolution and yield myself such time as I may consume.
  First, I want to thank Mr. Hastings and Mr. Green for their work on 
this important resolution congratulating the democratic State of Israel 
for achieving a significant victory in its long and tedious campaign to 
gain fair treatment at the U.N.
  In June, an Israeli diplomat, Mr. Ron Adam, was chosen to chair a 
critical U.N. committee, the Committee on Policy and Coordination, 
which is responsible for approving the work plan for all U.N. agencies 
and bodies. Incredibly, in the entire history of the U.N., this is the 
first time an Israeli has been granted such a role.
  For almost 60 years, since it became a member of the United Nations, 
Israel has been treated as a second-class citizen among the nations at 
the U.N. The greatest barrier to fair treatment for Israel has been its 
inability to achieve normal standing in one of the U.N.'s regional 
groupings. These groupings control committee assignments and leadership 
positions throughout the U.N. system.
  Though geographically Israel should be a member of the Asia group, a 
cabal of anti-democratic and anti-Semitic states in that region, the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference, has conspired to exclude Israel 
from its rightful membership in that group. Only recently has Israel 
been granted qualified membership in another U.N. group known as the 
Western European and Others regional group.

                              {time}  1415

  This new status has allowed Israel to begin to obtain U.N. leadership 
positions. We must build on this momentum. H. Res. 624 does so by 
demanding that the Western European and Others Group, with which Israel 
now caucuses at the U.N., remove all remaining restrictions and 
qualifications on Israel's status as a member of that group. The 
resolution also expresses support for Israel's campaign to gain a 
rotational seat on U.N. Security Council.
  Once again, Madam Speaker, I congratulate Israel for its election to 
serve as Chair of the Committee on Policy and Coordination. I also urge 
our good friend, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to use this 
positive step towards further increasing normalization of Israel's 
status at the United Nations. We must continue to work with the U.N. 
Secretary General who has made pressing normalization an important goal 
of his tenure. The unfair treatment of Israel at the U.N. undermines 
the very principles the United Nations is meant to embody. The 
spectacle of repressive regimes conspiring to deny Israel, the only 
democratic state in the Middle East, normal status at the U.N. 
undermines the broader fight on behalf of the human rights and 
democracy.
  Madam Speaker, I would urge all of our colleagues to support this 
very important resolution.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time 
as I may consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of House Resolution 624, 
which congratulates the State of Israel for chairing a United Nations 
committee for the first time in its history. This accomplishment is 
long overdue. Israel, as a fully democratic and sovereign state, should 
be entitled to all of the privileges and opportunities of any member 
state of the United Nations.
  Unfortunately, the anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias that pervades 
the United Nations has long prevented Israel from fully participating 
in that body. To this day, Israel remains only a temporary member of 
the U.N.'s Western European and Others Group and is excluded from many 
consultations, discussions and leadership posts within the group and 
the U.N. itself.
  The anti-Semitic, anti-Israel attitude shown by some members of the 
U.N. is unacceptable. It shames the principles of the United Nations. 
The United Nations has slowly begun to make progress in addressing this 
problem in restoring Israel to its rightful place at the U.N. However, 
there is much to be done, and this resolution calls upon U.N. Secretary 
General Ban Ki-Moon to resolve this disgraceful problem. Until this 
happens, the United Nations will not live up to its own charter where 
the preamble states that the U.N. was founded ``To save succeeding 
generations from the scourge of war, to reaffirm faith in fundamental 
human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the 
equal rights of men and women and nations large and small.''
  In addition, Madam Speaker, Israel's ability to finally chair a U.N. 
committee is a well-deserved accomplishment for Israel and a privilege 
and honor for a U.N. that has not done nearly enough.
  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and longtime friend from 
the State of Florida (Mr. Hastings) for introducing this resolution, 
and I urge its adoption.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentleman 
from Florida, the very distinguished chairman of the Rules Committee on 
Legislative and Budget Process and a leader for human rights and 
dignity around the world, author of the resolution before us, Alcee 
Hastings, such time as he may consume.
  Mr. HASTINGS of Florida. I thank my friend from New York for yielding 
me the time.

[[Page H11500]]

  Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 624, a 
resolution that I introduced with my good friend and fellow cochair of 
the Democratic Israel Working Group, Representative Gene Green.
  I first want to thank my very good friend and cosponsor of this 
resolution, who yielded time to me Representative Ackerman, for his 
steadfastness not only on these issues, but of issues of critical 
import for foreign affairs of these United States.
  I would also like to thank the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs 
Committee, my good friend, Representative Tom Lantos, and the ranking 
member of the committee and my colleague from Florida, Representative 
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, for helping move this important bipartisan bill 
forward, and my longstanding good friend today who spoke favorably 
today of this measure. I thank Representative Wilson for his comments 
on this legislation and others, as well.
  On June 19, 2007, for the first time ever in history a representative 
of the State of Israel was chosen to chair a United Nations committee. 
This resolution serves to properly mark this unique triumph for the 
State of Israel in our history books. The man chosen for this 
distinctive appointment at the United Nations is Mr. Ron Adam, the 
former director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's U.N. Political 
Affairs Department. The committee he was chosen to chair is the 
Committee on Program and Coordination. This 33-U.N. member body 
provides an important role to the functioning of the United Nations, 
approving the work plan for all United Nations agencies and bodies.
  Madam Speaker, since it first joined the United Nations in 1949, the 
democratic State of Israel has been considered a second-class nation at 
the United Nations, unfairly subjected to unjustified repeated one-
sided attacks from other nations. To this day, Israel is still denied 
full representation within the United Nations and its constituent 
agencies and bodies. Meanwhile, other rogue and repressive regimes, in 
violation of United Nations human rights principles, are afforded full 
rights and privileges.
  The United Nations should not and cannot continue to be a vehicle for 
unilateral attacks against Israel. Such dealings truly undermine the 
United Nations' credibility, integrity and effectiveness. Shamefully, 
anti-Semitic rhetoric and sentiment within the United Nations remains 
pervasive. Such statements are of grave concern to the United States 
and responsible nations.
  I want to commend both past and present United Nations leaders for 
publicly recognizing and speaking out against the existence of blatant 
biases and injustices within the United Nations walls. Despite the 
targeted discrimination and unwarranted hate it faces within this 
international forum, Israel has consistently played an active role 
within the United Nations. Israel already sits on several significant 
committees in the United Nations, and representatives from Israel have 
served as deputy chairs in the United Nations numerous times.
  I am hopeful that Mr. Adam's appointment to chair the CPC will help 
normalize Israel's bilateral and multilateral relations. I am also 
hopeful, as has been expressed by Representative Ackerman and 
Representative Wilson, that Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon of the United 
Nations will work to end the unfair vilification of Israel at the 
United Nations and to use his good offices to support Israel's bid to 
join the Asian regional grouping. Finally, I am hopeful that Israel 
will be granted membership on the Security Council for 2019 and gain 
full participation rights in the United Nations.
  I am but one member of this institution. I know I speak for Gene, who 
probably is en route here, who has some other feelings by virtue of our 
cosponsorship of this matter. I urge this administration, as Gene Green 
and I have and others, to do everything it can to see Israel's 
ascension in the United Nations.
  Israel's new appointment is the beginning of a new dawn for the 
nation's status within the United Nations. I congratulate the 
government and people of the State of Israel for this great 
accomplishment, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this 
important bipartisan legislation.
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to recognize the 
gentlewoman from the First District of Nevada, a member of the 
Veterans' Affairs Committee and Ways and Means Committee, Shelley 
Berkley, for such time as she may consume.
  Ms. BERKLEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from the great 
State of New York and my good friend from the State of Florida for 
introducing this important resolution. For too long, dictators and 
despots have hijacked the United Nations in order to serve their own 
purposes. They cynically target Israel in order to shift attention from 
their own brutality, passing countless resolutions condemning Israel 
without uttering a word about what is going on in Burma, the Sudan or 
North Korea.
  Madam Speaker, while we congratulate Israel today for a great 
achievement, I am still very worried the U.N.'s condemnations of Israel 
helped to stoke the fires of global anti-Semitism. For better or for 
worse, the world looks to the United Nations to set standards for human 
rights, and when instead it singles out Israel for constant 
recriminations, the U.N. becomes a platform for burgeoning anti-
Semitism around the world and anti-Israel rhetoric. Last week I chaired 
the Transatlantic Legislators' Dialogue in my hometown of Las Vegas, 
Nevada. Among the many issues we discussed with our friends from the 
European Parliament was the alarming rise of global anti-Semitism. Abe 
Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League briefed us 
on the widespread belief in the Muslim world that Israel and the Jews 
committed the 9/11 terrorist attack on this country. He told us about 
Malaysia, where there are no Jews, and yet where the president of that 
country blames the Jews for the economic problems in his country 
anyway.
  In Europe, since 2000, there has been a surge of anti-Semitic 
incidents. Even here at home, a few misguided and uninformed people say 
the Jews are somehow responsible for the war in Iraq. I am extremely 
concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism globally, and it is not 
unrelated to what goes on at the United Nations. I am afraid the U.N.'s 
rhetoric serves as a great recruiting tool for terrorists and anti-
Semites when it condemns Israel and uses old anti-Semitic canards to do 
it.
  Madam Speaker, it is surely a step in the right direction that Israel 
is chairing a U.N. committee. We are right to congratulate Israel for 
this great achievement. It is about time. But so much more must be done 
as this resolution states. Today, with this resolution, we call on the 
United Nations to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic 
statements made at its meetings and hold United Nations member states 
accountable when they make such statements. We must fight back against 
the growing scourge of global anti-Semitism and growing anti-Israel 
rhetoric while we continue to fight for Israel's greater recognition at 
the United Nations.
  I thank the gentleman from New York for his leadership on this issue, 
among many others.
  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, as a cosponsor of H. Res. 624, I rise in 
strong support of this bipartisan resolution and urge its adoption.
  For the first time in history, the State of Israel will serve as the 
chair of a United Nations Committee. We congratulate Mr. Ron Adam for 
his appointment as Chair of the U.N. Committee on Program and 
Coordination and wish him much success in this historic post.
  While this appointment gives us hope of reform at the United Nations, 
other U.N. organs continue on a path of anti-Semitism with irrational 
vilification of the Jewish State.
  In 2006, the United Nations took 135 actions against the State of 
Israel for alleged violations of human rights. By contrast, the U.N. 
took only 69 actions against Sudan--home to a genocide in Darfur--and 
only 23 actions against Iran, where the government is carrying out an 
ethnic cleansing campaign against its Baha'i minority.
  In its first year of existence, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed 
10 resolutions condemning Israel, while passing only one resolution 
condemning Sudan.
  And we all remember the infamous U.N. ``Day of Solidarity with the 
Palestinian People'' nearly 2 years ago when U.N. officials proudly 
displayed a map of the Middle East without the State of Israel.
  For several years, I have worked with my colleagues to pressure U.N. 
members to end

[[Page H11501]]

their anti-Israel obsession. Israel's appointment to the U.N. Committee 
on Program and Coordination is the first fruit of our labor. But we 
know there is a long way to go to end anti-Semitism at the United 
Nations.
  I want to thank my friend, Mr. Hastings, for introducing this 
important resolution, and Chairman Lantos and Ms. Ros-Lehtinen for 
their continued leadership on this issue.

                              {time}  1430

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, I urge support of the 
resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time, 
urging all of our colleagues to vote for the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Ackerman) that the House suspend the rules 
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 624, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the resolution, as amended, was agreed to.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A resolution congratulating 
the State of Israel on chairing a United Nations committee for the 
first time in history, and for other purposes.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________