[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13344]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        UNHCR'S BASH ISRAEL DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, this week, world leaders are gathering 
in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, and throughout 
this whole process we are reminded yet again of just how broken the 
U.N. system really is.
  Nowhere is this more evident than at the U.N. Human Rights Council. 
What a misnomer. This body that is supposed to promote and defend human 
rights worldwide has become a tool used by human rights abusers. And 
the office that provides support to the Council, the Office of the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights, OHCHR, is no better, as it is overrun 
with an anti-Israel bias and an anti-Israel agenda.
  We see this play out each time the Council meets for its Bash Israel 
Day--yippee--a day dedicated to permanent Agenda Item 7, the only 
agenda item of the Council devoted to a single country, Israel.
  This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Council. In those 10 
years, Mr. Speaker, there have been over 70 resolutions condemning 
Israel and about 65 resolutions for all of the other countries 
combined. Seventy on Israel, 65 for every other country. Countries like 
China, Russia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Cuba use the 
Council as a way to detract attention from their abuses and play upon 
the natural anti-Israel bias at the Council and the OHCHR.
  So tomorrow, when the Council meets to discuss Agenda Item 7, it will 
be another Bash Israel Day that the administration failed to prevent. 
It will be another example of how this administration's influence fails 
to protect our friend and ally, the democratic Jewish State of Israel.
  Instead of continuing to legitimize this sham of a body, Congress 
must withhold all contributions and participation at the Council and to 
the OHCHR, and call for the dissolution of the Council. The 
administration must press the High Commissioner to denounce Agenda Item 
7 and work against the inherent anti-Israel bias of the Council and the 
Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights.
  Earlier this year, Canadian Professor Michael Lynk was appointed as 
the Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, despite his 
obvious bias and conflicts of interest, which we now know he lied about 
in his paperwork. This selection was so egregious that Canada's Foreign 
Minister from Professor Lynk's home country urged the U.N. to 
reconsider his appointment. The administration should echo those calls, 
but, instead, it has been silent.
  The administration should also lead an opposition to the upcoming 
reelection next week of Jean Ziegler as an adviser to the Council. 
Ziegler is a notorious puppet of the Castro regime and an avowed 
defender of dictators and apologists for Islamic extremist groups and 
had no business being elected the first time around, let alone being 
reelected.
  The Obama administration had an opportunity to block his candidacy 
while serving as the coordinator for the Western European and Others 
Group this year at the Council, but failed to do so; and now it looks 
as if Ziegler's reelection is a done deal, thanks to the 
administration's failure to act.
  The administration, Mr. Speaker, continues to argue that only by 
being engaged and only by being full members of the U.N. can it advance 
our interests and protect Israel. Yet, next month, UNESCO is set to 
adopt a resolution that seeks to whitewash the Jewish and Christian 
religious and historical ties to Jerusalem. And while we might not be 
voting members of the full UNESCO body, this administration is an 
active member of UNESCO's executive committee, where this resolution 
was first approved.
  Where was our influence then?
  We can't even prevent a resolution that wipes away Jewish and 
Christian ties to Jerusalem, despite these being historical facts. It 
is very apparent that either the administration has no influence at the 
U.N. or the administration has no desire to upset the entrenched and 
damaged status quo.
  That is why it is up to Congress, Mr. Speaker, to force the change at 
the U.N. I urge all of my colleagues to take a long, hard look at the 
Human Rights Council as a representation of all that is wrong and bad 
with the U.N., and to make reforming the U.N. a priority going forward. 
It will be up to us.

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