[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 166 (Friday, December 21, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8379-S8380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TO DESIGNATE HIZBALLAH AS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Foreign
Relations Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. Res.
613, and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The clerk will report the resolution by title.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A resolution (S. Res. 613) urging the governments of Europe
and the European Union to designate Hizballah as a terrorist
organization and impose sanctions, and urging the President
to provide information about Hizballah to the European allies
of the United States and to support the Government of
Bulgaria in investigating the July 18, 2012, terrorist attack
in Burgas.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the
resolution.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate
proceed to a voice vote on the adoption of the resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there further debate?
If not, the question is on agreeing to the resolution.
The resolution (S. Res. 613) was agreed to.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the preamble be
agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, that there
be no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to this
matter be printed in the Record.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The preamble was agreed to.
The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:
S. Res. 613
Whereas the Department of State has designated Hizballah as
a foreign terrorist organization since October 1997;
Whereas the United States Government designated Hizballah a
specially designated terrorist organization in January 1995
and a ``Specially Designated Global Terrorist'' pursuant to
Executive Order 13224 (66 Fed. Reg. 49079) in October 2001;
Whereas Hizballah was established in 1982 through the
direct sponsorship and support of Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and continues to
receive training, weapons, and explosives, as well as
political, diplomatic, monetary, and organizational aid, from
Iran;
Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in multiple acts of
terrorism over the past 30 years, including the bombings in
Lebanon in 1983 of the United States Embassy, the United
States Marine barracks, and the French Army barracks, the
airline hijackings and the kidnapping of European, American,
and other Western hostages in the 1980s and 1990s, and
support of the Khobar Towers attack in Saudi Arabia that
killed 19 Americans in 1996;
Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on Terrorism
issued by the Department of State, ``Since at least 2004,
Hizballah has provided training to select Iraqi Shia
militants, including on the construction and use of
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that can penetrate
heavily-armored vehicles.'';
Whereas, in 2007, a senior Hizballah operative, Ali Mussa
Daqduq, was captured in Iraq with detailed documents that
discussed tactics to attack Iraqi and coalition forces, and
has been directly implicated in a terrorist attack that
resulted in the murder of 5 members of the United States
Armed Forces;
Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in the terrorist
attacks in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the Israeli Embassy in
1992 and the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994;
Whereas Hizballah has been implicated in acts of terrorism
and extrajudicial violence in Lebanon, including the
assassination of political opponents;
Whereas, in June 2011, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, an
international tribunal for the prosecution of those
responsible for the February 14, 2005, assassination of
former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, issued arrest
warrants against 4 senior Hizballah members, including its
top military commander, Mustafa Badr al-Din, identified as
the primary suspect in the assassination;
Whereas, according to the 2011 Country Reports on Terrorism
issued by the Department of State, Hizballah is ``the likely
perpetrator'' of 2 bomb attacks that wounded United Nations
Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers in Lebanon
during 2011;
Whereas, according to the October 18, 2012, report of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations to the United Nations
Security Council on the implementation of Security Council
Resolution 1559 (2004) (in this preamble referred to as the
``October 18 Report''), ``The maintenance by Hizbullah of
sizeable sophisticated military capabilities outside the
control of the Government of Lebanon . . . creates an
atmosphere of intimidation in the country[,] . . . puts
Lebanon in violation of its obligations under Resolution 1559
(2004)[,] and constitutes a threat to regional peace and
stability.'';
Whereas John Brennan, Assistant to the President for
Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, stated on October 26,
2012, that Hizballah's ``social and political activities must
not obscure [its] true nature or prevent us from seeing it
for what it is--an international terrorist organization
actively supported by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps - Quds Force'';
Whereas David Cohen, Under Secretary of the Treasury for
Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, stated on August 10,
2012, ``Before al Qaeda's attack on the U.S. on September 11,
2001, Hizballah was responsible for killing more Americans in
terrorist attacks than any other terrorist group.'';
Whereas, according to a September 13, 2012, Department of
the Treasury press release, ``The last year has witnessed
Hizballah's most aggressive terrorist plotting outside the
Middle East since the 1990s.'';
Whereas, since 2011, Hizballah has been implicated in
thwarted terrorist plots in Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Thailand, and
elsewhere;
Whereas, on July 18, 2012, a suicide bomber attacked a bus
in Burgas, Bulgaria, murdering 5 Israeli tourists and the
Bulgarian bus driver in a terrorist attack that, according to
Mr. Brennan, ``bore the hallmarks of a Hizballah attack'';
Whereas Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
stated of the Burgas terrorist attack, ``We have
unquestionable, fully substantiated evidence that this was
done by Hizballah backed by Iran.'';
Whereas Bulgaria is a member of the European Union and a
member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO);
Whereas, according to the October 18 Report, ``There have
been credible reports suggesting involvement by Hizbullah and
other Lebanese political forces in support of the parties in
the conflict in Syria. . . . Such militant activities by
Hizbullah in Syria contradict and undermine the
disassociation policy of the Government of Lebanon, of which
Hizbullah is a coalition member.'';
Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated, ``We have
seen Hizballah training militants in Yemen and Syria, where
it continues to provide material support to the regime of
Bashar al Assad, in part to preserve its weapon supply
lines.'';
Whereas, on August 10, 2012, the Department of the Treasury
designated Hizballah pursuant to Executive Order 13582 (76
Fed. Reg. 52209), which targets those responsible for human
rights abuses in Syria, for providing support to the
Government of Syria;
[[Page S8380]]
Whereas, according to the Department of the Treasury, since
early 2011, Hizballah ``has provided training, advice and
extensive logistical support to the Government of Syria's
increasingly ruthless effort to fight against the
opposition'' and has ``directly trained Syrian government
personnel inside Syria and has facilitated the training of
Syrian forces by Iran's terrorism arm, the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps - Qods Force'';
Whereas, on September 13, 2012, the Department of the
Treasury designated the Secretary-General of Hizballah, Hasan
Nasrallah, for overseeing ``Hizballah's efforts to help the
Syrian regime's violent crackdown on the Syrian civilian
population'';
Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan stated, ``Even in
Europe, many countries . . . have not yet designated
Hizballah as a terrorist organization. Nor has the European
Union. Let me be clear: failure to designate Hizballah as a
terrorist organization makes it harder to defend our
countries and protect our citizens. As a result, for example,
countries that have arrested Hizballah suspects for plotting
in Europe have been unable to prosecute them on terrorism
charges.''; and
Whereas, on October 26, 2012, Mr. Brennan called on the
European Union to designate Hizballah as a terrorist
organization, saying, ``European nations are our most
sophisticated and important counterterrorism partners, and
together we must make it clear that we will not tolerate
Hizballah's criminal and terrorist activities.'': Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) urges the governments of Europe and the European Union
to designate Hizballah as a terrorist organization so that
Hizballah cannot use the territories of the European Union
for fundraising, recruitment, financing, logistical support,
training, and propaganda;
(2) urges the governments of Europe and the European Union
to impose sanctions on Hizballah for providing material
support to Bashar al Assad's ongoing campaign of violent
repression against the people of Syria;
(3) expresses support for the Government of Bulgaria as it
conducts an investigation into the July 18, 2012, terrorist
attack in Burgas, and expresses hope that the investigation
can be successfully concluded and that the perpetrators can
be identified as quickly as possible;
(4) urges the President to provide all necessary
diplomatic, intelligence, and law enforcement support to the
Government of Bulgaria to investigate the July 18, 2012,
terrorist attack in Burgas;
(5) reaffirms support for the Government of Bulgaria by the
United States as a member of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO), and urges the United States, NATO, and
the European Union to work with the Government of Bulgaria to
safeguard its territory and citizens from the threat of
terrorism; and
(6) urges the President to make available to European
allies and the European public information about Hizballah's
terrorist activities and material support to Bashar al
Assad's campaign of violence in Syria.
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