[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 126 (Thursday, July 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3788]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 730--REMEMBERING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMBING 
 OF THE EMBASSY OF ISRAEL IN BUENOS AIRES ON MARCH 17, 1992, THE 28TH 
ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMBING OF THE ARGENTINE-ISRAELI MUTUAL ASSOCIATION 
BUILDING IN BUENOS AIRES ON JULY 18, 1994, AND RECOMMITTING TO EFFORTS 
            TO UPHOLD JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE ATTACKS

  Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cardin, Mr. 
Kaine, and Mr. Coons) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 730

       Whereas, on March 17, 1992, a truck laden with explosives 
     struck and detonated at the Embassy of Israel in Buenos 
     Aires, Argentina, killing 29 people and wounding more than 
     200 others;
       Whereas Argentina is home to the largest Jewish community 
     in Latin America--and the sixth largest in the world, outside 
     Israel;
       Whereas, in 1999, the Supreme Court of Argentina, after 
     conducting an investigation, found that the Lebanese 
     terrorist organization Hezbollah was responsible for the 
     bombing, which claimed the lives of Israeli diplomats, their 
     relatives, and numerous Argentine citizens and children;
       Whereas, 2 years after the bombing of the Embassy of Israel 
     in Argentina, on July 18, 1994, a car bomb detonated at the 
     Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish 
     Community Center building in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people 
     and wounding more than 300 others, rendering it the deadliest 
     terrorist attack in Argentina's history;
       Whereas, for 25 years, the investigation into the AMIA 
     bombing has been stymied by international inaction, political 
     interference, investigative misconduct, and allegations of 
     cover-ups, including the removal of the Federal judge in 
     charge of the case in 2005 for ``serious'' irregularities in 
     his handling of the case;
       Whereas, in October 2006, Argentine prosecutors Alberto 
     Nisman and Marcelo Martin Burgos formally accused the 
     Government of Iran of directing Hezbollah to carry out the 
     AMIA bombing;
       Whereas the Argentine prosecutors charged the following 
     Iranian nationals as suspects in the AMIA bombing:
       (1) Ali Fallahijan, Iran's former intelligence minister;
       (2) Mohsen Rabbani, Iran's former cultural attache in 
     Buenos Aires;
       (3) Ahmad Reza Asghari, a former Iranian diplomat posted to 
     Argentina;
       (4) Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's former defense minister;
       (5) Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's former foreign minister;
       (6) Mohsen Rezaee, former chief commander of the Iranian 
     Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps;
       (7) Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former President of Iran; 
     and
       (8) Hadi Soleimanpour, former Iranian ambassador to 
     Argentina;
       Whereas, in November 2007, the International Criminal 
     Police Organization (INTERPOL) published Red Notices on 5 of 
     the Iranian nationals and Hezbollah operative Ibrahim Hussein 
     Berro;
       Whereas those with INTERPOL Red Notices have repeatedly 
     traveled internationally with impunity on more than 20 
     occasions since 2007;
       Whereas, in May 2013, Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman 
     published a 500-page report accusing the Government of Iran 
     of establishing terrorist networks throughout Latin America;
       Whereas, in January 2015, Mr. Nisman released the results 
     of an investigation alleging that then-President Fernandez de 
     Kirchner and then-Foreign Minister Timerman conspired to 
     cover up Iranian involvement in the 1994 AMIA bombing and 
     that they had agreed to negotiate immunity for Iranian 
     suspects and secure the removal of the INTERPOL Red Notices;
       Whereas Mr. Nisman was scheduled to present his findings to 
     a commission of the Argentine National Congress on January 
     19, 2015, but on January 18, 2015, was found dead as the 
     result of a gunshot wound to his head in his apartment in 
     Buenos Aires; and
       Whereas, to date, no one has been brought to justice for 
     the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, the 
     1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos 
     Aires, or the death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reiterates its strongest condemnation of the 1992 
     attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina and the 1994 
     attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) 
     Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires;
       (2) honors the victims of the 1992 bombing of the Israeli 
     Embassy in Argentina and the 1994 AMIA bombing, and expresses 
     its sympathy to the relatives of the victims, who are still 
     waiting for justice;
       (3) underscores the concern of the United States regarding 
     the continuing, decades-long delay in resolving the 1992 and 
     1994 terrorist attacks in Argentina, and urges the President 
     of the United States to offer technical assistance to the 
     Government of Argentina to support the ongoing 
     investigations;
       (4) urges the Government of Argentina and the international 
     community to continue efforts to bring the perpetrators of 
     the March 17, 1992, and July 18, 1994, terrorist attacks to 
     justice, including enforcing the INTERPOL Red Notices and 
     extending them when they are up for review in November 2022;
       (5) commends the Government of Argentina for designating 
     Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and urges other United 
     States allies and partners in Latin America and the Caribbean 
     to do the same; and
       (6) commends the Government of Argentina for adopting the 
     International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working 
     definition of antisemitism and encourages other partners and 
     allies to do the same.

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