[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 128 (Thursday, September 20, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6556-S6557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 574--CALLING ON THE UNITED NATIONS TO TAKE CONCERTED 
 ACTIONS AGAINST LEADERS IN IRAN FOR THEIR STATEMENTS CALLING FOR THE 
       DESTRUCTION OF ANOTHER UNITED NATIONS MEMBER STATE, ISRAEL

  Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Ms. Ayotte, Mrs. Hutchison, Mrs. 
Shaheen, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Moran, Mr. 
Cardin, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. 
Lautenberg, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Begich, and 
Mr. Johanns) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 574

       Whereas, on August 2, 2012, President of Iran Mahmoud 
     Ahmadinejad stated that ``anyone who loves freedom and 
     justice must strive for the annihilation of the Zionist 
     regime in order to pave the way for world justice and 
     freedom'';
       Whereas, on August 17, 2012, President Ahmadinejad gave a 
     televised statement that ``the Zionist regime and the 
     Zionists are a cancerous tumor,'' and that ``the nations of 
     the region will soon finish off the usurper Zionists in the 
     Palestinian land,'' contending that ``with the grace of God 
     and help of the nations, in the new Middle East there will be 
     no trace of the Americans and Zionists'';
       Whereas, on February 3, 2012, Supreme Leader Ayatollah 
     Khamenei told an audience that ``the Zionist regime is a real 
     cancerous tumor that should be cut and will be cut, God 
     Willing'';
       Whereas, on August 17, 2012, leader Ayatollah Ahmad 
     Khatami, addressing worshippers at Tehran University, stated 
     that ``Zionists understand only the language of force'' and 
     claimed that ``the Zionist regime will meet destruction 
     through unity in the Islamic world'';
       Whereas, in 2009 and 2011 speeches before the United 
     Nations General Assembly, President Ahmadinejad insulted 
     Israel, called into question its very existence, and denied 
     the fact that there was a Holocaust;
       Whereas other leaders in Iran have made similar statements, 
     and the Government of Iran has displayed inflammatory symbols 
     that express similar intent;
       Whereas the Government of Iran funds, trains, and supports 
     terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic 
     Jihad Movement in Palestine among many others, all of which 
     have murdered United States citizens, Israelis, and non-
     Israeli Jews and are determined to destroy Israel, and 
     continues to support the Government of Syria in its continued 
     oppression, violence, and abuse of its people;
       Whereas, on August 30, 2012, the International Atomic 
     Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that the Government of Iran has 
     doubled its capacity to enrich uranium to 20 percent purity 
     at Iran's Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant since May 2012;
       Whereas the longstanding policy of the Iranian regime is 
     aimed at destroying the democratic State of Israel, a vital 
     ally and longstanding friend of the United States, which is 
     confirmed by statements such as those made by President 
     Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Khamenei demonstrating the 
     threat of a nuclear-armed Iran;
       Whereas, 67 years ago, the United Nations was founded in 
     the wake of the Holocaust, the Nazi genocide carried out 
     during World War II that resulted in the slaughter of 
     6,000,000 Jews in Europe, in order to ``save succeeding 
     generations from the scourge of war'' and uphold and protect 
     the ``dignity and worth of the human person'';
       Whereas Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations 
     Charter, to which Iran has agreed as a Member State of the 
     United Nations, requires all Member States to ``refrain in 
     their international relations from the threat or use of force 
     against the territorial integrity or political independence 
     of any state'';
       Whereas the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of 
     the Crime of Genocide, done at Paris December 9, 1948 
     (commonly referred to as the ``Genocide Convention''), 
     defines genocide as, among other things, the act of killing 
     members of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group 
     with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the targeted 
     group;
       Whereas Article 3 of the Genocide Convention prohibits 
     conspiracy to commit genocide, as well as ``direct and public 
     incitement to commit genocide'';
       Whereas Article 4 of the Genocide Convention provides that 
     individuals committing any of the listed genocidal crimes 
     shall be punished ``whether they are constitutionally 
     responsible rulers, public officials or private 
     individuals'';
       Whereas 142 Member States of the United Nations, including 
     Iran, have ratified or acceded to the Genocide Convention and 
     thereby pledged to prosecute those individuals who violate 
     its criteria for incitement to commit genocide, as well as 
     those individuals who commit genocide directly;
       Whereas, on August 18, 2012, United Nations Secretary-
     General Ban Ki-moon condemned the Government of Iran's 
     ``offensive and inflammatory statements'' and his office 
     reiterated that, ``in accordance with the United Nations 
     Charter, all members must refrain from the threat or use of 
     force against the territorial integrity or political 
     independence of any state''; and
       Whereas, on November 9, 2006, an international coalition of 
     29 nongovernmental organizations urged the Government of Iran 
     to renounce President Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be 
     wiped off the map:
       Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, Supreme 
     Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and President of Iran Mahmoud 
     Ahmadinejad's offensive remarks, contemptible statements, and 
     reprehensible policies aimed at the destruction of the State 
     of Israel, and urges all United Nations Member States to do 
     the same;
       (2) calls on the United Nations Security Council to take 
     more concerted actions against Iran for blatantly violating 
     the United Nations Charter, including by requesting that the 
     prosecutor of the International Criminal Court investigate 
     leaders in Iran for violating the Convention on the 
     Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, done at 
     Paris December 9, 1948 (commonly referred to as the 
     ``Genocide Convention''), and Article 2, Section 4, of the 
     United Nations Charter;
       (3) further calls on all Member States of the United 
     Nations to fully implement existing United Nations Security 
     Council resolutions sanctioning Iran and to take additional 
     stronger unilateral diplomatic and economic

[[Page S6557]]

     measures to prevent the Government of Iran from obtaining 
     nuclear weapons, which would be both a dangerous violation of 
     the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done 
     at Washington, London, and Moscow July 1, 1968, and entered 
     into force March 5, 1970, and a potential means to the end of 
     carrying out President Ahmadinejad's threats against Israel;
       (4) further calls on the United Nations Security Council 
     and all Member States of the United Nations to consider 
     targeted sanctions, travel bans, and other measures linked to 
     the cessation of the Government of Iran's incitement to 
     hatred and genocide;
       (5) calls for the United Nations Secretary General's 
     Advisory Committee on the Prevention of Genocide to implement 
     its mandate to act as a mechanism of early warning, and to 
     make recommendations to the United Nations Security Council 
     to monitor and report on threats of genocide made by leaders 
     in Iran;
       (6) further calls on parties to the Genocide Convention to 
     file a complaint against leaders in Iran before the 
     International Court of Justice for the failure by the 
     Government of Iran to abide by its obligations under Articles 
     1, 4, and 5 of the Genocide Convention; and
       (7) reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership and 
     close friendship between the United States and Israel and 
     reasserts the steadfast commitment of the people and the 
     Government of the United States to defend the right of Israel 
     to exist as a free and democratic state.

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