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“SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of State was published in the Senate section on pages S7641-S7642 on June 29, 2005.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
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SENATE RESULTION 184--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING
MANIFESTATIONS OF ANTI-SEMITISM BY UNITED NATIONS MEMBER STATES AND URGING ACTION AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM BY UNITED NATIONS OFFICIALS, UNITED NATIONS MEMBER STATES, AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
Mr. SANTORUM (for himself, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Smith, Ms. Collins, Mr. Coleman, and Mr. Voinovich) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
S. Res. 184
Whereas the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that ``the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world'';
Whereas United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379
(1975) concluded that ``Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination'' and the General Assembly, by a vote of 111 to 25, only revoked Resolution 3379 in 1991 in response to strong leadership by the United States and after Israel made its participation in the Madrid Peace Conference conditional upon repeal of the resolution;
Whereas during the 1991 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations repeated the outrageous ``blood libel'' that Jews allegedly have killed non-Jewish children to make unleavened bread for Passover and, despite repeated interventions by the Governments of Israel and the United States, this outrageous lie was not corrected in the record of the Commission for many months;
Whereas in March 1997, the Palestinian observer at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights made the contemptible charge that the Government of Israel had injected 300 Palestinian children with HIV (the human immunodeficiency virus, the pathogen that causes AIDS) despite the fact that an Egyptian newspaper had printed a full retraction to its earlier report of the same charges, and the President of the Commission failed to challenge this baseless and false accusation despite the request of the Government of Israel that he do so;
Whereas Israel was denied membership in any regional grouping of the United Nations until the year 2000, which prevented it from being a candidate for any elected positions within the United Nations system until that time, and Israel continues to be denied the opportunity to hold a rotating seat on the Security Council and it is the only member of the United Nations never to have served on the Security Council although it has been a member of the organization for 56 years;
Whereas Israel continues to be denied the opportunity to serve as a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights because it has never been included in a slate of candidates submitted by a regional grouping, and Israel is currently the only member of the Western and Others Group in a conditional status limiting its ability to caucus with its fellow members of this regional grouping;
Whereas the United Nations has permitted itself to be used as a battleground for political warfare against Israel led by Arab states and others, and 6 of the 10 emergency sessions of the United Nations General Assembly have been devoted to criticisms of and attacks against Israel;
Whereas the goals of the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism were undermined by hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israel political agendas, prompting both Israel and the United States to withdraw their delegations from the Conference;
Whereas in 2004, the United Nations Secretary General acknowledged at the first United Nations-sponsored conference on anti-Semitism, that: ``It is clear that we are witnessing an alarming resurgence of this phenomenon in new forms and manifestations. This time, the world must not--cannot--be silent.'';
Whereas in 2004, the United Nations General Assembly's Third Committee for the first time adopted a resolution on religious tolerance that includes condemnation of anti-Semitism and ``recognized with deep concern the overall rise in instances of intolerance and violence directed against members of many religious communities . . . including . . . anti-Semitism . . . '';
Whereas in 2005, the United Nations held an unprecedented session to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp;
Whereas democratic Israel is annually the object of nearly two dozen redundantly critical resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly, which rarely adopts resolutions relating to specific countries; and
Whereas the viciousness with which Israel is attacked and discriminated against at the United Nations should not be allowed to continue unchallenged: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That--
(1) the Senate--
(A) welcomes recent attempts by the United Nations Secretary General to address the issue of anti-Semitism;
(B) calls on the United Nations to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic statements made at all United Nations meetings and hold accountable United Nations member states that make such statements; and
(C) strongly urges the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to develop and implement education awareness programs about the Holocaust throughout the world as part of an effort to combat the rise in anti-Semitism and racial, religious, and ethnic intolerance; and
(2) it is the sense of the Senate that--
(A) the President should direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to continue working toward further reduction of anti-Semitic language and anti-Israel resolutions;
(B) the President should direct the Secretary of State to include in the Department of State's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and annual Report on International Religious Freedom information on activities at the United Nations and its constituent bodies relating to anti-Semitism by each of the countries included in these reports; and
(C) the President should direct the Secretary of State to use projects funded through the Middle East Partnership Initiative and United States overseas broadcasts to educate Arab and Muslim countries about anti-Semitism, religious intolerance, and incitement to violence.
Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to submit a resolution to express the sense of the Senate regarding manifestations of anti-
Semitism by United Nations member states and to urge action against anti-Semitism by United Nations officials, United Nations member states, and the U.S. government. I am very pleased to be joined in this effort by Senators Feingold, Smith, Collins, Coleman, and Voinovich, who are original cosponsors of this legislation.
The past several years have revealed an upsurge in anti-Semitic violence around the world. We have seen incidences of it in Europe, the Middle East, and, unfortunately, even at the United Nations. While the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes that
``the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,'' there are numerous examples of anti-Semitism and anti-
Israel actions at the U.N. and by member states.
Allow me to list some examples of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias that have been included in the resolution. Clearly false accusations have been made against the Jewish people and the government of Israel at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. These lies were not corrected for months or, in some cases, ever. Israel also continues to be denied the opportunity to hold a rotating seat on the Security Council, despite the fact that it has been a member of the organization for 56 years. It is the only member of the U.N. to be denied this seat. It continues to be denied the opportunity to serve as a member of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. The goals of the 2001 U.N. World Conference Against Racism were undermined by anti-
Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israel agendas, which led to both the U.S. and Israel withdrawing their delegations from the conference.
The resolution being submitted today delineates these examples of anti-Semitism, but it also welcomes the steps the U.N. has recently taken to address this problem and urges additional steps to be taken. In 2004, the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged at the first U.N.-sponsored conference on anti-Semitism that, ``It is clear that we are witnessing an alarming resurgence of this phenomenon in new forms and manifestations. This time the world must not--cannot--be silent.'' In 2004, a committee of the U.N. also adopted a resolution that condemned anti-Semitism and recognized the rise in incidences of intolerance and violence. Upon the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camps in 2005, the U.N. held an unprecedented session to commemorate the occasion.
However, the United Nations and its member states must go further in combating this menace. The resolution makes it clear that the United States Senate is committed to opposing anti-Semitism and calls on the U.N. to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic statements made at its meetings and to hold accountable member states that make such statements. The resolution urges educational awareness programs about the Holocaust to be implemented around the world to combat anti-
Semitism, racism, and religious and ethnic intolerance. The U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. should also continue working to reduce anti-
Semitic and anti-Israel language and resolutions.
Likewise, the resolution asks for action from the State Department. The U.S. State Department should include information on anti-Semitic activities at the U.N. and by member states in its annual human rights and religious freedom reports. These reports have been very useful in providing important information on the status of human rights and religious freedom around the world, and data on anti-Semitic activities falls clearly within the purpose of these reports. Lastly, the State Department should use projects funded through the Middle East Partnership Initiative and U.S. overseas broadcasts to educate Arab and Muslim countries about anti-Semitism, religious intolerance, and incitement to violence.
A similar resolution to this, introduced by Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Tom Lantos, passed the House of Representatives earlier this month by a vote of 409 to 2. I am hopeful that the Senate will similarly pass this resolution. It is time for the Senate to speak once more against the scourge of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic language and activity. This resolution will send a message to the United Nations and its member countries that we will require it to fight anti-
Semitism. For this reason, I ask my colleagues to join me in supporting these efforts by cosponsoring this resolution.
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