[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 51 (Monday, March 25, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1942]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 120--OPPOSING EFFORTS TO DELEGITIMIZE THE STATE OF 
   ISRAEL AND THE GLOBAL BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND SANCTIONS MOVEMENT 
                            TARGETING ISRAEL

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

                              S. Res. 120

       Whereas the democratic Jewish State of Israel is a key ally 
     and strategic partner of the United States;
       Whereas, since Israel's founding in 1948, Congress has 
     repeatedly expressed our Nation's unwavering commitment to 
     the security of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state;
       Whereas United States policy has long sought to bring peace 
     to the Middle East and recognized that both the Israeli and 
     Palestinian people should be able to live in safe and 
     sovereign states, free from fear and violence, with mutual 
     recognition;
       Whereas support for peace between the Israelis and 
     Palestinians has long-standing bipartisan support in 
     Congress;
       Whereas it is the long-standing policy of the United States 
     that a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian 
     conflict should come through direct negotiations between the 
     Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with the 
     support of countries in the region and around the world;
       Whereas it is a hallmark of American democracy for citizens 
     to petition the United States Government in favor of or 
     against United States foreign policy;
       Whereas cooperation between Israel and the United States is 
     of great importance, especially in the context of rising 
     anti-Semitism, authoritarianism, and security problems in 
     Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa;
       Whereas the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions 
     Movement (BDS Movement) targeting Israel is a campaign that 
     does not favor a two-state solution and that seeks to exclude 
     the State of Israel and the Israeli people from the economic, 
     cultural, and academic life of the rest of the world;
       Whereas the BDS Movement targets not only the Government of 
     Israel, but also academic, cultural, and civil society 
     institutions in Israel, as well as individual Israeli 
     citizens of all political persuasions, religions, and 
     ethnicities, and in some cases even Jews of other 
     nationalities who support Israel;
       Whereas the BDS Movement does not recognize, and many of 
     its supporters explicitly deny, the right of the Jewish 
     people to national self-determination;
       Whereas a founder of the BDS Movement has denied the right 
     of the Jewish people in their homeland, saying, ``We oppose a 
     Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, 
     rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever 
     accept a Jewish state in Palestine.'';
       Whereas university-based BDS efforts violate the core goals 
     of the university and global cultural development, which 
     thrive on free and open exchange and debate; and
       Whereas the BDS Movement promotes principles of collective 
     guilt, mass punishment, and group isolation, which are 
     destructive of prospects for progress towards peace and a 
     two-state solution: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) opposes the Global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions 
     Movement (BDS Movement) targeting Israel, including efforts 
     to target United States companies that are engaged in 
     commercial activities that are legal under United States law 
     and all efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel;
       (2) affirms that the BDS Movement undermines the 
     possibility for a negotiated solution to the Israeli-
     Palestinian conflict by demanding concessions of one party 
     alone and encouraging the Palestinians to reject negotiations 
     in favor of international pressure;
       (3) urges Israelis and Palestinians to return to direct 
     negotiations as the only way to achieve an end to the 
     Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
       (4) supports the full implementation of the United States-
     Israel Strategic Partnership Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-296; 
     128 Stat. 4075) and new efforts to enhance governmentwide, 
     coordinated United States-Israel scientific and technological 
     cooperation in civilian areas, such as with respect to 
     energy, water, agriculture, alternative fuel technology, 
     civilian space technology, and security, in order to counter 
     the effects of actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction 
     Israel; and
       (5) reaffirms its strong support for a negotiated solution 
     to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states--
     a democratic Jewish State of Israel and a viable democratic 
     Palestinian state--living side-by-side in peace, security, 
     and mutual recognition.

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