[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15606-15608]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN SUPPORT OF FULL 
                    MEMBERSHIP OF ISRAEL IN THE WEOG

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree 
to the resolution (H. Res. 615) expressing the sense of the House of 
Representatives in support of full membership of Israel in the Western 
European and Others Group (WEOG) at the United Nations, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 615

       Whereas since the mid-1960s, the member states of the 
     United Nations have been divided into five groups, including 
     the Western European and Others Group and the African, Asian, 
     Latin American, and Eastern European groups;
       Whereas the United Nations increasingly relies on this 
     ``Group System'' to facilitate its work and two leading 
     United Nations organs, the General Assembly and the Economic 
     and Social Council, have passed numerous resolutions granting 
     this system a central role in United Nations elections;
       Whereas Israel has been refused admission to the Asian 
     Group of the United Nations and is therefore denied the 
     rights and privileges of full membership in the United 
     Nations;
       Whereas exclusion of Israel violates crucial principles of 
     the United Nations Charter, including the right of states to 
     be treated in accordance with the principle of sovereign 
     equality and the right to vote and participate fully in the 
     United Nations General Assembly;
       Whereas the Bureau of every United Nations conference 
     comprises one representative from each group in the United 
     Nations and Israel is therefore denied access to this vital 
     apparatus enjoyed by other United Nations member states;
       Whereas on May 30, 2000, Israel accepted an invitation to 
     become a temporary member of the Western European and Others 
     Group at the United Nations;
       Whereas Israel's membership in the Western European and 
     Others Group is limited and, as a temporary member, Israel is 
     not allowed to compete for open seats or to run for positions 
     in major bodies of the United Nations, such as the Security 
     Council, or United Nations-affiliated agencies, such as the 
     United Nations Commission on Human Rights;
       Whereas Israel is only allowed to participate in limited 
     activities of the Western European and Others Group at the 
     United Nations headquarters and is excluded from discussions 
     and consultations of the Group at the United Nations offices 
     in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna;
       Whereas the Western European and Others Group includes 
     Canada, Australia, and the United States;
       Whereas Israel is linked to Western European and Others 
     Group member states by strong economic, political, and 
     cultural ties;
       Whereas the Western European and Others Group is the only 
     bloc which is not purely geographical but rather comprises 
     countries which share a Western democratic tradition; and
       Whereas Israel is a free and democratic country and its 
     voting pattern in the United Nations is consistent with that 
     of the Western European and Others Group member states: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of 
     Representatives that--
       (1) the President should direct the Secretary of State and 
     the United States Permanent Representative to the United 
     Nations to seek an immediate end to the persistent and 
     deplorable inequality experienced by Israel in the United 
     Nations;
       (2) United States interests would be well served if Israel 
     were afforded the benefits of full membership in the Western 
     European and Others Group at the United Nations so that it 
     could fully participate in the United Nations system;
       (3) consistent with section 405(a) of division C of H.R. 
     1950, as passed the House of Representatives on July 16, 
     2003, ``the Secretary of State and other appropriate 
     officials of the United States Government should pursue an 
     aggressive diplomatic effort and should take all necessary 
     steps to ensure the extension and upgrade of Israel's 
     membership in the Western European and Others Group at the 
     United Nations''; and
       (4) the Secretary of State should continue to submit to 
     Congress on a regular basis a report which describes actions 
     taken by the United States Government to encourage the 
     Western European and Others Group member states to accept 
     Israel as a full member of their group and describes the 
     responses thereto from the member states.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen).


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank my chairman, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde), and the ranking member of the committee on International 
Relations, my good friend, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), 
and, most importantly, our leadership for bringing House Resolution 615 
to the floor tonight. We could not have chosen a better time to 
consider this measure in light of the manipulation of the International 
Court of Justice by those who seek to deny Israel its sovereign right 
of self-defense, who seek to deny Israel the right to protect itself 
and her people against the unending attacks launched against it by 
Palestinian terrorists.
  Later this week, we will see further corruption of the United Nations 
General Assembly by anti-Israel, antisemitic forces as they are 
expected to bring forth resolutions seeking to force Israel to comply 
with the nonbinding opinion issued by the International Court of 
Justice on Israel's security barrier.

                              {time}  2045

  This is illustrative of the bias that one of our strongest allies, 
Israel, faces within the United Nations system; and it further 
demonstrates how Israel's lack of membership in one of the country 
groupings of the U.N. places it at a significant disadvantage.
  House Resolution 615 seeks to address this problem. It expresses the 
sense of the House of Representatives that Israel should enjoy full 
membership in the Western European and Others Group, WEOG, at the 
United Nations. Simply stated, this resolution seeks to correct the 
ongoing discrimination and inequality that Israel has been a victim of 
in the United Nations system.
  As a first step toward correcting this wrong, on May 30, 2000, Israel 
accepted an invitation to become a temporary member of WEOG, which 
opened the door to Israeli participation in the U.N. Security Council, 
provided Israel is able to retain its status on the WEOG.
  Nonetheless, Israel's membership to the WEOG is severely limited, and 
every 4 years Israel has to reapply, since its status is only 
temporary.
  Israel is not allowed to present candidacies for open seats in most 
U.N. bodies, and it is not able to compete for leadership positions in 
major U.N. organs.
  Even its participation in WEOG activities is restricted to U.N. 
headquarters in New York; and as such, Israel is unable to fully 
participate in discussions and consultations on a number of critical 
issues. It is unacceptable that Israel should remain an anomaly in the 
community of nations only because certain states refuse to allow it to 
occupy its legitimate place in the Asian group of nations.
  As long as the United Nations institutional realliance on the 
regional system continues, its members are obliged by the principles of 
its charter to find

[[Page 15607]]

a solution to the discrimination against Israel. The WEOG states can do 
so without sacrificing their vital interest. Rather, by admitting 
Israel, they will gain the addition of another member to the group of 
democratic states active in and contributing to the international 
organization system.
  The WEOG is the only regional group which is not solely based on 
geographic considerations. It is composed of a group of states with 
Western democratic values as a common denominator. Israel's social/
political orientation is comparable to that of the WEOG states. Its 
voting pattern in the United Nations is congruent with that of the WEOG 
states. It shares a common cultural ideological outlook with these 
countries, and it is linked to them by strong economic ties.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have worked on this resolution with the 
distinguished ranking member of the Committee on International 
Relations, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos). This resolution 
enjoys broad bipartisan support with over 40 cosponsors. It was passed 
unanimously at both the subcommittee and the full committee markups. 
Our interests would be well served if Israel were afforded the benefits 
of full membership to the WEOG. It is time to bring an end to the 
discrimination that Israel faces in the United Nations system.
  As a free nation, Israel deserves our support and that of all 
democratic countries. I strongly urge my colleagues to support this 
important resolution.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 615, introduced by 
the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), my good friend and 
distinguished colleague. For years, the democratic nation of Israel has 
been relegated to third-class status at the United Nations. Our 
resolution seeks to end this outrageous treatment of Israel, and it 
will ensure that Israel has the same rights and privileges at the 
United Nations in New York as every other nation in the world.
  The procedures of the United Nations are an arcane subject, Mr. 
Speaker; but it is vital to understand, one fact about that. For a 
member state to be able to exercise its full rights and privileges at 
the United Nations, for it to participate fully in all U.N. agencies 
and activities, it must be a full member of one of the five regional 
groupings of the U.N. And of the 191 member states in the U.N., only 
one is not a full member of one of the five regional groups. That one 
exception is the State of Israel.
  Israel's natural geographical home should be in the Asia Group; but 
that group, which is dominated by hostile Arab states that refuse to 
recognize the State of Israel, rejects the membership of the region's 
only democracy, the State of Israel.
  This unique and appalling constraint cripples Israel's ability to 
exercise normal privileges of U.N. membership. The normal privileges 
are enjoyed by every other member, from most democratic to the most 
despotic. It precludes Israel from voting in any United Nations body, 
except the General Assembly. It precludes Israel from running for a 
seat on the Security Council or any major U.N. affiliated agency, or 
from otherwise participating fully in the day-to-day work of the United 
Nations.
  To partially address this ability and after years of United States 
efforts, the regional block known as Western Europe and Others Group, 
WEOG, granted Israel limited temporary membership 4 years ago; but this 
junior-grade membership allows Israel to participate in only some of 
the U.N.'s less important activities.
  Democratic Israel clearly deserves to be a full member of the WEOG 
group. WEOG, unlike any other regional block, is not a geographic 
designation. It is a political grouping, including countries such as 
the United States, Canada, Australia, along with all the states of 
Western Europe.
  Does anyone doubt that Israel fully shares the other WEOG states' 
core commitments to democracy and Western values? In fact, its voting 
record on almost all issues at the United Nations reflects this common 
ground with other WEOG states.
  Mr. Speaker, it is time for the WEOG group, whose membership roster 
is a who's who of our closest allies on this planet, to end the policy 
of discrimination against the State of Israel and to grant Israel full 
membership. There is simply no excuse for not doing so.
  The hypocritical treatment of Israel at the U.N. perhaps tops the 
list of the many reasons that this crucial world body so often evokes 
well-deserved cynicism and scorn.
  Consider this. At this moment, the thugish Sudanese regime that is 
responsible for some of the worst violence and ethnic cleansing in the 
world today sits at the head of the U.N. Human Rights Commission, a 
body that democratic Israel cannot even aspire to join. Ask the 
thousands of people in Darfur in the western Sudan who have been driven 
from their homes into refugee camps by Khartoum-sponsored Arab militias 
whether this is fair.
  Mr. Speaker, a vote for this resolution is a vote for Israel's full 
participation in the U.N. system, a vote for our own national interest, 
and a vote for enhanced U.N. credibility. I strongly support this 
resolution, and I urge my colleagues to do so.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. 
Engel), my good friend and distinguished colleague.
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the United Nations discredits itself once 
again, unfortunately, by having one set of rules for Israel and one set 
of rules for everyone else; and here is but another example of that 
kind of hypocrisy that unfortunately has permeated the United Nations. 
We will soon be talking about a ruling by an international court; and 
when I spoke about that ruling several days ago on the House floor, I 
said that one set of rules for Israel at the U.N. and one set of rules 
for everyone else does not help anybody, but just helps to discredit 
the United Nations.
  Now, there are 191 members of the United Nations, as my friend from 
California has pointed out, and only one of them is given third-class 
status. Israel has been a member of the United Nations since the 
founding of the Jewish state in 1948, and yet it has never been allowed 
to serve on the Security Council of the United Nations, where you have 
one undemocratic despotic nation after another serving on the Security 
Council, sitting on the Human Rights Commission, but not democratic 
Israel.
  So what this resolution does is it simply expresses the sense of the 
House of Representatives in support of full membership of Israel in the 
Western European and Others Group at the United Nations. As was pointed 
out, this will enable Israel to serve in all bodies of the United 
Nations, to have a vote in all bodies of the United Nations, and to 
serve on the Security Council if it is elected. If the United Nations 
is to be an effective group, then all nations must be treated equally; 
and democratic nations such as the state of Israel cannot be allowed to 
continue as third-status nations in the U.N.
  So I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H. Res. 
615.
  This resolution expresses this House's support for full membership 
for Israel in Western European and Other Groups at the United Nations.
  Full membership for Israel is long overdue.
  Without full membership in a regional group, Israel cannot sit on the 
Security Council or other key U.N. bodies, and the Arab states have 
barred its membership in the group it geographically belongs in, the 
Asian Group.
  On May 30, 2000, Israel accepted an invitation to become a temporary 
member of Western European and Others, WEOG, regional group.
  This historic step helped end at least some of the United Nations' 
discriminatory actions against Israel; however, without full 
membership, Israel is excluded from much of the U.N's general business 
that occurs outside of the General Assembly and Israel is not eligible 
to sit on the Security Council.
  As a sovereign, democratic state--the only democratic state in the 
Middle East--Israel's

[[Page 15608]]

full participation in the United Nations is an essential right.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the House's full support of this bill.
  Mr. ACKERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of the resolution and I 
thank the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central 
Asia for her leadership in bringing H. Res. 615 to the floor. As an 
original cosponsor of this resolution I am very pleased that the House 
will, I hope, pass the resolution by an overwhelming, if not unanimous 
vote.
  Israel's isolation at the United Nations puts the lie to claims that 
Israel is not held to a double standard and demonstrates clearly that 
many of those urbane diplomats who like to talk about peace and 
reconciliation cannot even stomach the thought of Israel taking its 
rightful place at the U.N. While space is reserved and rights are held 
for such pariah states as junta-led Myanmar, dictator-ruled North 
Korea, the tyranny of the mullahs in Iran and the Palestinians' own 
thugocracy, democratic Israel is uniquely isolated at what is supposed 
to be the forum for all nations to deal with each other on equal terms.
  Ironically, every day, because of the hostility and prejudice that 
precludes Iraeli participation in the Asia regional group, the 
credibility and mission of the United Nations is undermined by exactly 
those states that call most vigorously for the Arab-Israeli conflict to 
be resolved in accordance with the will of the United Nations. The 
stench of this hypocrisy easily reaches Washington all the way from 
U.N. headquarters in New York City.
  The resolution before the House calls for renewed efforts by this 
Nation to secure for Israel full membership in the Western Europe and 
Others Group at the U.N. the membership bloc our own country belongs 
to. Such a step is entirely appropriate given the close ties between 
Israel and the other nations in the bloc, as well as shared values and 
belief in democracy that characterizes this group's membership at the 
UN.
  Thanks in large measure to the United States, Israel has, for a short 
time, been able to enjoy at least partial membership in the WEOG 
regional group. It is time for this half-measure to be replaced with a 
lasting and definite full membership. Israel is a country of far 
greater economic, political and scientific achievement than many of 
those nations that have obstructed full Israeli participation in the 
UN. It is more than past time that this grotesque form of 
discrimination be ended.
  I urge Members to show their strong support for Israel and the true 
ideals of the UN by voting in favor of the resolution.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Renzi). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the 
House suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 615, as 
amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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