S.Amdt. 485

SA 485. Mr. DAYTON submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill H.R. 1268, Making emergency supplemental appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2005, to establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver's license and identification document security standards, to prevent terrorists from abusing the asylum laws of the United States, to unify terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and removal, to ensure expeditious construction of the San Diego border fence, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 231, between lines 3 and 4, insert the following:

SENSE OF CONGRESS ON MEMBERSHIP OF ISRAEL IN THE WESTERN EUROPEAN AND OTHERS GROUP AT THE UNITED NATIONS

Sec. 6047. (a) Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The election of member states of the United Nations to the major bodies of the United Nations is determined by groups organized within the United Nations, most of which are organized on a regional basis.

(2) Israel has been refused admission to the group comprised of member states from the Asian geographical region of the United Nations and is the only member state of the United Nations that remains outside its appropriate geographical region, and is thus denied full participation in the day-to-day work of the United Nations.

(3) On May 30, 2000, Israel accepted an invitation to become a temporary member of the Western European and Others Group of the United Nations.

(4) On May 21, 2004, Israel's membership to the Western European and Others Group was extended indefinitely.

(5) Israel is only allowed to participate in limited activities of the Western European and Others Group in the New York office of the United Nations, is excluded from discussions and consultations of the Group at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna, and, may not participate in United Nations conferences on human rights, racism, or other issues held in such locations.

(6) Membership in the Western European and Others Group includes the non-European countries of Canada, Australia, and the United States.

(7) Israel is linked to the member states of the Western European and Others Group by strong economic, political, and cultural ties.

(8) The Western European and Others Group, the only regional group of the United Nations that is not purely geographical, is comprised of countries that share a western democratic tradition.

(9) Israel is a free and democratic country and its voting pattern in the United Nations is consistent with that of the member states of the Western European and Others Group.

(b) It is the sense of Congress that--

(1) the President should direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to seek an immediate end to the persistent and deplorable inequality experienced by Israel in the United Nations;

(2) Israel should be afforded the benefits of full membership in the Western European and Others Group at the United Nations and such membership would permit Israel to participate fully in the United Nations system and would serve the interests of the United States; and

(3) the Secretary should submit to Congress, on a regular basis, a report that describes actions taken by the United States Government to encourage the member states of the Western European and Others Group to accept Israel as a full member of such Group and the responses of such member states to those actions.