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“SENATE RESOLUTION 5--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S22-S23 on Jan. 3, 2017.
The State Department is responsibly for international relations with a budget of more than $50 billion. Tenure at the State Dept. is increasingly tenuous and it's seen as an extension of the President's will, ambitions and flaws.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SENATE RESOLUTION 5--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE IN SUPPORT OF
ISRAEL
Mr. MORAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 5
Whereas Israel is a strategic international partner and democratic ally of the United States;
Whereas cooperation between Israel and the United States is of great importance, especially amid a troubling security situation in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe;
Whereas strong relations between the United States and Israel benefit both countries and the prospects for regional stability;
Whereas peace between the Israelis and Palestinians remains of strategic interest to the United States;
Whereas support for Israel and peace between the Israelis and Palestinians have long standing bipartisan support in Congress;
Whereas a bipartisan majority of the United States Senate in 2016 requested that the President maintain a policy of opposing one-sided United Nations Security Council resolutions targeting Israel;
Whereas, on December 23, 2016, the President and his delegates at the United Nations departed from congressional directives and past United States policy by declining to use United States veto power during a vote on a United Nations Security Council resolution unfairly targeting Israel;
Whereas Congress has a constitutional role in determining the laws and foreign policy of the United States; and
Whereas the commencement of the 115th Congress and the inauguration of a new President create opportunities to improve relations between the United States and Israel: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) urges the President and the international community to join in supporting bilateral talks between the Israelis and Palestinians;
(2) expresses support for individuals and organizations working to bring about peace and cooperation between the Israelis and Palestinians;
(3) opposes the use of the United Nations as a medium to unfairly impose external remedies to challenges between the Israelis and Palestinians;
(4) objects to the December 2016 abstention and declination to veto United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 by delegates of the United States at the United Nations;
(5) regrets and seeks to reverse the negative public criticism of Israel by United States diplomats;
(6) urges the President-elect to adopt a policy of opposing and vetoing if necessary one-sided United Nations Security Council resolutions targeting Israel;
(7) rejects international efforts to delegitimize Israel's right to exist;
(8) supports Israel's right to self-defense;
(9) condemns acts of terrorism and violence targeted at Israeli civilians;
(10) reiterates that Palestinian political goals will never be achieved through violence; and
(11) calls on all parties to return to negotiations and without preconditions, as direct discussions remain the best mechanism to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Mr. MORAN. Mr. President, although the time of this administration is short and the inauguration of a new President is now just weeks away, the Obama administration isn't coming to a quiet ending. From issuing controversial regulations to transferring unprecedented numbers of detainees from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, the outgoing administration has repeatedly acted in direct opposition to the bipartisan will of Congress and to the values of many American people. The clearest examples of this are the recent American actions at the United Nations Security Council, performed at the expense of Israel, an American ally and strategic partner in the Middle East.
This December, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said:
Decades of political maneuvering have created a disproportionate number of resolutions, reports and committees against Israel. In many cases, instead of helping the Palestinian issue, this reality has foiled the ability of the UN to fulfill its role effectively.
The U.N.'s anti-Israel bias was evident on December 23 when the Security Council sought to pass a resolution targeting Israel. American representatives abstained from voting on the deliberately anti-Israel resolution. The refusal to defend Israel is a departure from longstanding bipartisan policy of the United States and, in fact, a departure from the standards of the Obama administration.
Just days later, this decision to abstain was aggravated by comments made by Secretary of State Kerry. In a speech that sought to defend the Obama administration's diplomacy, the Secretary's one-sided lecture further criticized Israel. With so many grave and immediate foreign policy challenges concurrently facing the Obama administration and facing our country, the Secretary's decision to devote his final days at the State Department to criticism of Israel is difficult to understand.
The President's party has suffered staggering electoral defeats during his time in office. Much of that can be attributed to the championing of policies at odds with much of his own party and the American people at large. This case is no different. The Obama administration's decision defies the bipartisan directive of 88 Members of this Senate who wrote the President on this issue in September of 2016.
Fortunately, today marks the first day of the 115th Congress. On January 20, we will inaugurate a new President. We will have to work overtime to correct the direction of these American policies.
I am committed to working with the incoming administration and both Republican and Democratic Members of Congress to make certain the United States remains appropriately supportive of Israel. We must prevent the United Nations from being further used as a forum for unjust persecution of that country. To this effort, I am introducing a resolution that recognizes the importance of Israel as a strategic ally, reiterates that Congress's bipartisan support for Israel continues, and objects to the Obama administration's decision and harmful public commentary related to the December 23 U.N. Security Council vote.
The opening of the 115th Congress and the inauguration of a new President create opportunities to improve our relations, the relationship between the United States and Israel. America's alliance with Israel is critical to combating the threat of peace in the Middle East and to our own national security. It is my hope we can seize the opportunity to better stand by our ally and continue to encourage peace and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.
I believe this resolution is an important step in repairing the relations the Obama administration has unnecessarily strained, and I hope to have the opportunity to vote on this measure in the Senate in the coming weeks.
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