[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 21 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 21
Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United
Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction of the State
of Israel.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 9, 2007
Mr. Rothman (for himself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Towns, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Engel,
Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Johnson of Illinois, Mr.
Inglis of South Carolina, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Ms. Berkley, Mr.
Sessions, Mr. Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Carney,
Mr. McNulty, Mr. Klein of Florida, Mr. McCaul of Texas, Mr. Manzullo,
Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Saxton, and Mr. Lewis of Georgia) submitted the
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on
Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United
Nations Charter because of his calls for the destruction of the State
of Israel.
Whereas the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (commonly referred to as the ``Genocide Convention'') defines
genocide as, among other things, the act of killing members of a
national, ethnic, racial, or religious group with the intent to destroy,
in whole or in part, the targeted group, and it also prohibits
conspiracy to commit genocide, as well as ``direct and public incitement
to commit genocide'';
Whereas Article 4 of the Genocide Convention provides that individuals
committing any of the listed genocidal crimes shall be punished
``whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials
or private individuals'';
Whereas 133 Member States of the United Nations have ratified the Genocide
Convention and thereby pledged to prosecute those individuals who
violate its criteria for incitement to commit genocide, as well as those
individuals who commit genocide directly;
Whereas 61 years ago the United Nations was founded to prevent another
Holocaust, the Nazi genocide carried out during World War II that
resulted in the slaughter of 6 million Jews in Europe, from happening
ever again;
Whereas Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations Charter, to which Iran has
agreed as a Member State of the United Nations, requires all Member
States of the United Nations to ``refrain in their international
relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial
integrity or political independence of any state'';
Whereas, on October 27, 2005, at the World Without Zionism Conference in Tehran,
Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be
``wiped off the map'', described Israel as ``a disgraceful blot [on] the
face of the Islamic world'', and declared that ``[a]nybody who
recognizes Israel will burn in the fire of the Islamic nation's fury'';
Whereas, on December 12, 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a
conference in Tehran questioning the history of the Holocaust and said
that Israel would ``soon be wiped out'';
Whereas, on December 14, 2006, incoming United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-
moon said that Iran's calls for Israel's destruction and its dismissal
of the Holocaust are ``unacceptable'', and expressed concern about the
regional and global security implications of Tehran's nuclear program;
Whereas, on August 3, 2006, in a speech during an emergency meeting of Muslim
leaders, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that the Middle
East would be better off ``without the existence of the Zionist
regime'', called Israel an ``illegitimate regime'' with ``no legal basis
for its existence'', and accused the United States of using Israel as a
proxy to control the region and its oil resources;
Whereas Iran funds, trains, and openly supports terrorist groups, including
Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad among many others, that are
determined to destroy Israel;
Whereas, on December 14, 2001, the President of Iran's Expediency Council, Ali
Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, threatened Israel with nuclear attack, saying,
``[i]f one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like
those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will
reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside
Israel will destroy everything [in Israel], while it will merely harm
the Islamic world'';
Whereas Iran has aggressively pursued a clandestine effort to arm itself with
nuclear weapons; and
Whereas the longstanding policy of the Iranian regime is aimed at destroying the
democratic State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and
the most important strategic ally of the United States, which is
confirmed by statements such as those made by Iranian President
Ahmadinejad and Council President Rafsanjani, demonstrating the threat
of a nuclear-armed Iran: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) condemns, in the strongest terms, Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's offensive remarks, contemptible
statements, and reprehensible policies aimed at the destruction
of the State of Israel;
(2) calls on the United Nations Security Council to charge
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide and Article 2, Section 4, of the United Nations
Charter;
(3) further calls on the United Nations Security Council
and all Member States of the United Nations to consider
measures to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, which
would be both a dangerous violation of the Nuclear Non-
Proliferation Treaty and a potential means to the end of
carrying out President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against
Israel; and
(4) reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership between
the United States and Israel and reasserts the steadfast
commitment of the United States to defend the right of Israel
to exist as a free and democratic state.
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