[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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