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“SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 20--RELATIVE TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE BOMBING OF THE ISRAELI EMBASSY IN BUENOS AIRES IN 1992” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S3058-S3059 on April 10, 1997.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 20--RELATIVE TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE
BOMBING OF THE ISRAELI EMBASSY IN BUENOS AIRES IN 1992
Mr. BROWNBACK (for himself, Mr. Robb, Mr. Helms, and Mr. Biden) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was considered and agreed to:
S. Con. Res. 20
Whereas on March 17, 1992, the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a school, and several nearby buildings were destroyed by a powerful suicide car bomb blast in which 29 innocent children, women, and men lost their lives and an additional 252 innocent people were injured;
Whereas the victims of this terrorist attack included employees of the Israeli embassy and their families, children from a nearby Roman Catholic primary school, women and men from a nearby Roman Catholic church shelter, a Roman Catholic priest, and people from across the spectrum of Argentine society;
Whereas Argentina's Jewish community, which numbers 300,000 and is the largest Jewish community in Latin America, has suffered severe anti-Semitism during periods of military rule and feels particularly vulnerable to assault from certain radical Islamic groups and from indigenous far right extremists in Argentina;
Whereas Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Israeli Embassy and praised the name of the alleged suicide bomber, Abu Yasser, by calling him a ``martyr struggler'';
Whereas Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization that is supported by Iran and, according to Department of State officials, Iranian dipomats collected information to plan the bombing;
Whereas the failure of Argentine and international efforts to bring the perpetrators of the embassy bombing to justice made Argentina a prime target for a second devastating terrorist attack on July 18, 1994;
Whereas the second bombing destroyed the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish Community Center, killing 86 people and injuring over 200 people; and
Whereas the investigation of the Israeli Embassy bombing has been hampered by the inefficiency of having the entire membership of the Supreme Court of Argentina in charge of the investigation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That Congress--
(1) notes that as of March 17, 1997, 5 years after the bombing of the Israeli Embassy and 2\1/2\ years after the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center, Argentinean police and judicial authorities have not identified and initiated prosecution of the perpetrators of these 2 barbarous acts of terrorism;
(2) urges the Supreme Court of Argentina to designate a single investigative judge to conduct the investigation of the terrorist bombing of the Israeli Embassy in order to improve the efficiency of the inquiry;
(3) urges Argentinean judicial authorities to aggressively investigate the bombing of the AMIA Jewish Community Center and the possible connection between that bombing and the bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires;
(4) urges Argentinean authorities to acknowledge publicly the reports submitted by Argentinean, United States, and Israeli experts, that the explosion at the Israeli Embassy took place outside the walls of the embassy;
(5) urges the President and appropriate executive agencies to provide whatever assistance is requested by Argentinean Government authorities in order to help that Government investigate these 2 acts of terrorism; and
(6) directs the Secretary of the Senate to transmit a copy of this resolution to the Government of Argentina.
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