[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 198 (Monday, December 17, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7657-S7658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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  SENATE RESOLUTION 732--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
  UNITED STATES SHOULD RECOGNIZE ISRAEL'S SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE GOLAN 
                                HEIGHTS

  Mr. CRUZ (for himself and Mr. Cotton) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 732

       Whereas, until 1967, Syria controlled the Golan Heights and 
     used the topographical advantage it provided to attack 
     Israeli troops and civilians;
       Whereas, in June 1967, Syria intensified its attacks 
     against Israel from the Golan Heights, and Israel captured 
     the Golan Heights in a defensive war;
       Whereas, in October 1973, the Golan Heights provided Israel 
     with critical strategic depth to repel a surprise attack by 
     Syrian forces;
       Whereas, on September 1, 1975, President Gerald Ford 
     provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that ``the U.S. 
     will support the position that an overall settlement with 
     Syria in the framework of a peace agreement must assure 
     Israel's security from attack from the Golan Heights'' and 
     that ``the U.S. has not developed a final position on the 
     borders. Should it do so it will give great weight to 
     Israel's position that any peace agreement with Syria must be 
     predicated on Israel remaining on the Golan Heights'';
       Whereas, in October 1991, Secretary of State James Baker 
     provided a diplomatic assurance to Israel that ``the United 
     States continues to stand behind the assurance given by 
     President Ford to Prime Minister Rabin on September 1, 
     1975'';
       Whereas, in 1981, Israel applied its ``law, jurisdiction, 
     and administration'' over the Golan Heights and has 
     controlled the Golan Heights for 51 years;
       Whereas, since 2011, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has 
     killed hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians, including 
     with weapons of mass destruction, and has pursued an ethnic 
     cleansing campaign against Syrian Sunnis;
       Whereas Iran has used the war in Syria to establish a 
     military presence in the Levant, including thousands of 
     Iranian troops and proxies, and now seeks to create 
     territorial corridors that solidify its control, expand its 
     activities, establish a permanent military presence, and 
     provide arms to its terrorist proxies;
       Whereas Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of 
     terrorism and the leaders of Iran regularly threaten to wipe 
     out Israel;
       Whereas Iran and its proxies have repeatedly attacked 
     Israel from inside Syria, including in February 2018 when 
     Iranian forces infiltrated Israel with a drone and in May 
     2018 when Iranian forces shelled the Golan Heights;
       Whereas, in December 2014, Congress unanimously resolved 
     that the United States supported the sovereign right of the 
     Government of Israel to defend its territory and its citizens 
     from attacks against Israel by Hamas, a terrorist group 
     supported by Iran; and
       Whereas Israel's control over the Golan Heights provides a 
     defensible border, deters attacks from hostile forces, 
     facilitates intelligence gathering, and allows Israel to 
     detect threats to its national security: Now, therefore, be 
     it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--

[[Page S7658]]

       (1) the United States supports the sovereign right of the 
     Government of Israel to defend its territory and its citizens 
     from attacks against Israel, including by Iran or its 
     proxies;
       (2) Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights is critical 
     to Israel's national security;
       (3) Israel's security from attack from Syria and Lebanon 
     cannot be assured without Israeli sovereignty over the Golan 
     Heights;
       (4) it is in the United States' national security interest 
     to ensure Israel's security;
       (5) it is in the United States' national security interest 
     to ensure that the Assad regime faces diplomatic and 
     geopolitical consequences for the killing of civilians, the 
     ethnic cleansing of Syrian Sunnis, and the use of weapons of 
     mass destruction, including by ensuring that Israel retains 
     control of the Golan Heights; and
       (6) the United States should recognize Israel's sovereignty 
     over the Golan Heights.

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