[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 21 Referred in Senate (RFS)]
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 21
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 21, 2007
Received and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Calling on the United Nations Security Council to charge Iranian leader
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 62 years ago the United Nations was founded in the wake of the
Holocaust, the Nazi genocide carried out during World War II that
resulted in the slaughter of 6 million Jews in Europe, in order to
``save succeeding gen- erations from the scourge of war'' and uphold and
protect the ``dignity and worth of the human person'';
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 26, 2005, at the World Without Zionism Conference in Tehran,
Iran, Iranian leader 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 leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a
conference in Tehran questioning the historical veracity of the
Holocaust and said that Israel would ``soon be wiped out'';
Whereas on December 15, 2000, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i stated to
thousands of Muslim worshippers in Tehran that ``Iran's stance has
always been clear on this ugly phenomenon (Israel). We have repeatedly
said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the
region'';
Whereas other Iranian leaders have made similar statements and the Government of
Iran has displayed inflammatory symbols that express similar intent;
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 leader 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, all of which have
murdered Americans, Israelis, and non-Israeli Jews and are determined to
destroy Israel;
Whereas on December 14, 2001, former leader of Iran and current leader of Iran's
influential Expediency Council Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani threatened
Israel with destruction by 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, a vital United States ally and longstanding
friend, which is confirmed by statements such as those made by Iranian
leader Ahmadinejad, Supreme Leader Khamene'i, and Expediency Council
leader 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 leader
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 take up
charges against Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for
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
stronger 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 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's threats against
Israel; and
(4) reaffirms the unwavering strategic partnership and
close friendship 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.
Passed the House of Representatives June 20, 2007.
Attest:
LORRAINE C. MILLER,
Clerk.