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“SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S2746 on March 15, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESOLUTION 82--URGING THE EUROPEAN UNION TO ADD HEZBOLLAH TO THE EUROPEAN UNION'S WIDE-RANGING LIST OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
Mr. ALLEN (for himself, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Bayh, and Mr. Smith) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 82
Whereas Hezbollah is a Lebanon-based radical organization with terrorist cells based in Europe, Africa, North America, South America, Asia, and elsewhere, receiving financial, training, weapons, and political and organizational aid from Iran and Syria;
Whereas Hezbollah has led a 23-year global campaign of terror targeting United States, German, French, British, Italian, Israeli, Kuwaiti, Saudi Arabian, Argentinean, Thai, Singaporean, and Russian civilians, among others;
Whereas former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet called Hezbollah ``an organization with the capability and worldwide presence [equal to] al Qaeda, equal if not far more [of a] capable organization . . . [t]hey're a notch above in many respects
. . . which puts them in a state sponsored category with a potential for lethality that's quite great'';
Whereas Hezbollah has been suspected of numerous terrorist acts against United States citizens, including the suicide truck bombing of the United States Embassy and Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, in October 1983, and the Embassy annex in Beirut in September 1984;
Whereas the French unit of the Multinational Force in Beirut was also targeted in the attack of October 1983, in which 241 United States soldiers and 58 French paratroopers were killed;
Whereas Hezbollah has attacked Israeli and Jewish targets in South America in the mid-1990s, including the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March 1992, and the AMIA Jewish Cultural Center in Buenos Aires in July 1994;
Whereas Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for kidnappings of United States and Israeli civilians and French, British, German, and Russian diplomats, among others;
Whereas even after the Government of Israel's compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 425 (March 19, 1978) by withdrawing from Lebanon, Hezbollah has continued to carry out attacks against Israel and its citizens;
Whereas Hezbollah has expanded its operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, providing training, financing, and weapons to Palestinian terrorist organizations on the European Union terrorist list, including the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine;
Whereas in 2004, Hezbollah instigated, financed, or played a role in implementing a significant number of Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli targets;
Whereas the European Union agreed by consensus to classify Hamas as a terrorist organization for purposes of prohibiting funding from the European Union to Hamas;
Whereas the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 2151 note) urges the Government of Lebanon to assert the sovereignty of the Lebanese state over all of its territory and to evict all terrorist and foreign forces from southern Lebanon, including Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards;
Whereas, although the European Union has included Imad Fayiz Mughniyah, a key operations and intelligence officer of Hezbollah, on its terrorist list, it has not included his organization on the list;
Whereas the United States, Canada, and Australia have all classified Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and the United Kingdom has placed the Hezbollah External Security Organization on its terrorist list;
Whereas leaders of Hezbollah have made statements denouncing any distinction between its ``political and military'' operations, such as Hezbollah's representative in the Lebanese Parliament, Mohammad Raad, who stated in 2001, that ``Hezbollah is a military resistance party, and it is our task to fight the occupation of our land. . . . There is no separation between politics and resistance.'';
Whereas in a book recently published by the deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Naim Qassem, entitled
``Hezbollah--the Approach, the Experience, the Future'', Qassem writes ``Hezbollah is a jihad organization whose aim, first and foremost, is jihad against the Zionist enemy, while the political, pure and sensible effort can serve as a prop and a means of support for jihad'';
Whereas United Nations Security Council resolution 1559
(September 2, 2004), jointly sponsored by the United States and France, calls upon all remaining foreign forces to withdraw from Lebanon and for the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias;
Whereas in December 2004, the Department of State placed Al-Manar, Hezbollah's satellite television network, on the Terrorist Exclusion List, and in December 2004, the French Council of State banned the broadcasting of Al-Manar in France;
Whereas France, Germany, and Great Britain, with the support of the High Representative of the European Union, have created a working group with Iran to discuss regional security concerns, including the influence of terror perpetuated by Hezbollah and other extremist organizations; and
Whereas cooperation between the United States and the European Union regarding efforts to combat international terrorism is essential to the promotion of global security and peace: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) urges the European Union to classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization for purposes of prohibiting funding from the European Union to Hezbollah and recognizing it as a threat to international security;
(2) condemns the continuous terrorist attacks perpetrated by Hezbollah;
(3) condemns Hezbollah's continuous support of Palestinian terrorist organizations on the European Union terrorist list, such as the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; and
(4) calls on Hezbollah to disarm and disband its militias in Lebanon, as called for in United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 (September 2, 2004).
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