Condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) for his remarks, and I thank most especially our chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, also from California, Mr. Berman, who has been a joy for our side to work with on this and many other measures.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today as the author of House Concurrent Resolution 385 which is a bipartisan resolution condemning the 1994 attack on AMIA, the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I would like to thank Chairman Berman for working with me in bringing this bill to the floor, and I thank the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Berkley) who will also be speaking on this. So many on our committee and beyond have joined us as cosponsors of this important resolution.

This Friday, Mr. Speaker, marks the 14th anniversary of the AMIA attack. It was the deadliest bombing in the history of Argentina. Eighty-five people were killed, and more than 300 wounded that day. In the year 2006, the government of Argentina concluded that the attack was ``decided and organized by the highest leaders of the former government of Iran who at the same time entrusted its execution to Hezbollah.''

Among those found to be responsible were a former Iranian ambassador to Argentina; a former cultural attache at the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires; a former official at the Iranian embassy; a former Iranian Minister of Security and Intelligence; and Ayatollah Rafsanjani, Iran's leader at the time of the AMIA bombing, who continues to wield power at the highest level of the Iranian regime.

In the year 2007, INTERPOL issued red notices for a Hezbollah operative and for five of the Iranian officials wanted by the government of Argentina in connection with the AMIA attack. This enabled arrest warrants for those individuals to be circulated worldwide with an eye toward their arrest and their extradition.

Unfortunately, the government of Saudi Arabia made no attempt to detain or to arrest two of the Iranian officials implicated in the AMIA bombing during their time in Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

The two departed without Saudi Arabia taking any action. The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had a failure to detain these two individuals. That is of grave concern, and I hope that it will not be repeated by other governments.

With this in mind, House Concurrent Resolution 385 urges all responsible nations to cooperate fully with the AMIA investigation by detaining and extraditing to Argentina any persons against whom Interpol has issued red notices for their role in the AMIA attack. Agents of the Iranian regime linked to the AMIA attack must once and for all be held responsible for their reprehensible actions.

Furthermore, the evidenced complicity of Iranian embassy officials in the AMIA attack clearly demonstrates that the Iranian regime has used its embassies as tools of extension of its radical goals. It also underscores the direct threat that these actions may have toward America's own national security. As the Iranian regime continues to greatly expand its diplomatic, its political and its economic pressure in our own western hemisphere so close, it is essential that we remain mindful of the danger that this may pose to us.

In closing, I would like to commend the government of Argentina on the significant advances that it has made in the investigation of the AMIA attack and congratulate the leadership of Argentina for the efforts that they have made to prevent similar extremist attacks from taking place in the future.

I am going to continue to work with my colleagues and others in the U.S. Government to ensure that we provide any support and cooperation requested by the government of Argentina to deepen and expand the investigation into this terrible AMIA bombing.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, we have no further requests for time, and we yield back the balance of our time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 385) condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, on July 18, 14 years ago, a devastating bomb exploded outside the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eighty-five people were brutally killed and 300 wounded because they happened to be in the building at that fateful moment.

On that day, the world suffered yet another example of the consequences of radical violent religious extremism, and 85 more victims were tragically added to the list of those whose lives have been taken unnecessarily.

We recalled the shock felt in Jewish communities worldwide, and are reminded that as long as radical extremism exists, no religious group should consider itself free from persecution.

Almost a decade and a half later, the perpetrators of the AMIA bombings still have not been brought to justice.

The AMIA attack was approved in advance by Iran's supreme leader and by the highest officials of the Iranian government. The attack was orchestrated by the government of Iran and the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.

Since 1994, Iran has greatly expanded its diplomatic, political, and economic presence in the western hemisphere, represented by the opening of nearly a dozen embassies in Latin America.

As the AMIA tragedy shows, Iran has made use of its embassies abroad as tools to perpetrate its radical Islamic goals. We cannot let our guard down as we face this threat of terrorism.

This legislation recognizes that in the past few years, the government of Argentina has made significant advances in the AMIA investigation, primarily through the dedication and determination of Prosecutor Alberto Nisman and those who support his work.

We celebrate, as well, that Argentina has also recently enacted counterterrorism legislation which seeks to criminalize the financing, fund-raising and money-laundering activities of groups linked to terrorism. We encourage our South American neighbor to continue pursuing the criminals of the AMIA bombing and through this legislation commit to accompany them in that pursuit.

The resolution also commends the efforts of the General Assembly of INTERPOL to uphold and implement the international arrest warrants issued for the Hezbollah and Iranian operatives. We must continue to push the entire community of nations to work together to capture and arrest those who would harm us.

Mr. Speaker, only by taking the investigation of the AMIA bombing to its ultimate conclusion, capture and punishment for those who planned it, can the community of nations show Iran, Hezbollah, and those who support terrorism that their efforts will not bear fruit.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague, my friend, the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for introducing this resolution, and urge all of my colleagues to support this important measure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield to the gentlelady from Nevada, a former member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ms. Berkley, 2 minutes.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Con. Res. 385, which condemns the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July 1994.

I led an official congressional delegation to Buenos Aires in February and visited the leaders of the Argentine Jewish community. I saw the site of the devastating July 18, 1994, bombing of the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association. I will never forget the sadness I felt laying a wreath of flowers on the memorial to the 85 victims of the terrorist attack and will always keep in the forefront of my mind the need to bring to justice the perpetrators of that horrible crime.

Mr. Speaker, overwhelming evidence links the attacks to the government of Iran, and the execution of the bombings to Hezbollah, a terrorist organization based in Lebanon. The state prosecutor of Argentina announced this conclusion on October 25, 2006, stating that the AMIA bombing was ``decided and organized by the highest leaders of the former government of Iran, whom, at the same time, entrusted its execution to the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.'' He specifically alleged that the attack was approved by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former leader of Iran and the current chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts and Iran's Expediency Council.

On November 9, 2006, an Argentine judge issued an arrest warrant for Rafsanjani and others for their involvement in the AMIA bombing. One year later, the General Assembly of INTERPOL issued six Red Notices, circulating the Argentine warrants in an effort to extradite the indicted Iranians.

One of the perpetrators of the AMIA bombing was Hezbollah operative Imad Moughnieh. Moughnieh was not only responsible for the act of terror in Buenos Aires, he also carried out the dastardly attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon in 1983. This brutal terrorist was reportedly killed in Syria on February 12, 2008. While I do not know who carried out the attack on Moughnieh, it seems that justice has been done.

It is unconscionable that the entire leadership of the government of Iran was involved with the terror campaign in Argentina. We must not let the world's lead sponsor of international terror continue to get away with its criminal deeds.

I stand with the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, and the government of Argentina, which has stepped up the pace of the AMIA investigation. The United States must continue to work with Argentina and provide any help it needs as it seeks to bring the terrorists to justice.

I stand with the peace-loving Jewish community of Argentina which, despite the horror which befell them 14 years ago, remains vital and strong. Their survival is a testament to the human spirit which will not succumb to the reprehensible designs of an evil few.

And I stand with the freedom-loving peoples around the world who know the horrors of terrorism and will not rest until the perpetrators have been apprehended and convicted in a court of law.

Again, I strongly support H. Con. Res. 385, a resolution of which I am a cosponsor, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in condemning the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in July of 1994. Those responsible for the destruction and loss of human life that resulted from this attack must be held accountable. I believe that anyone who acts to destroy innocent life, regardless of their position in society or the country they are from should be subject to international scrutiny for their actions, and that includes our own officials.

In the past I have voted in favor of similar resolutions that condemned the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center and sought to hold accountable those responsible for this deplorable and heinous act. Accordingly, today I once again support all aspects of this resolution that calls for justice on behalf of the 85 people murdered and 300 wounded.

However, H. Con. Res. 385 is not without problems in its current form. First, the final ``Whereas'' clause of the resolution contains information that is speculative rather than factual. The resolution appears to draw this clause from an ABC News report from June 19, 2008, which provides no hard evidence to support the stated claims. Second, the resolution claims in the penultimate ``Whereas'' clause that Iran ``in recent years'' has opened ``nearly a dozen embassies in Latin America.'' In recent years, Iran has opened two embassies in Latin America, one in Colombia in 2007 and one in Nicaragua in 2007. These events brought the total of Iranian embassies in Latin America to eight. According to experts at the Congressional Research Service, CRS, the

other six Iranian Embassies in Latin America have been around for a long time and include those in Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela.

As such, I do not agree with the decision by the U.S. House of Representatives to treat this resolution as noncontroversial. The bill could unwittingly place this Congress in the position of promoting an attack on the country of Iran through its attempt to draw parallels between Iran and those responsible for the attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center. Instead of using speculative and factually inaccurate information which is clearly included in this bill, the resolution should be redrafted and kept to readily ascertainable facts about the unconscionable attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in 1994.

This body must not allow an attack on innocent people be used as a pretext for an attack on more innocent people. Indeed, we have done this once with disastrous results. I believe this House is better served by demanding sensible and responsible diplomatic foreign policy initiatives. This body should demand that the administration engage Iran immediately in high-level diplomatic negotiations without preconditions. By neglecting this duty and employing tactics that maintain an ongoing condemnation of Iran, without opening diplomatic channels, this body is systematically destroying every available route to restoring peace and security in the Middle East, which could have devastating consequences for Israel, as well as our troops in Iraq.

Mr. Speaker, as one who is most consistently opposed to war and violence, I join my colleagues in condemning the brutal and unjustified attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina 14 years ago. I do not support this resolution, however, as it misuses a tragedy 14 years ago in a foreign country to push for U.S. war against Iran today.

Although this resolution clearly blames Iran and Hezbollah for the bombing, in fact the investigation is ongoing and far from conclusive. In an article titled ``U.S. uses probe to pressure Iran,'' the Wall Street Journal earlier this year suggested that renewed U.S. interest in this 14-year-old case is more related to politics than a genuine desire for justice. Reported the Journal,

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran persist, Washington

and its allies are using an investigation into a 1994

terrorist attack in Argentina to maintain pressure on the

Iranian regime.

Behind the scenes, Bush administration officials are

encouraging the probe, which centers on the bombing of a

Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. One U.S. goal is to

cause legal problems for some of Iran's political leaders.

Administration officials also hope to use the matter to

highlight Iran's alleged role in financing and supporting

terrorism around the world.

Those pushing for a U.S. attack on Iran are using this tragic event to foment fear in the United States that Iran and Hezbollah are perpetrating terrorist acts in the Western Hemisphere. This is another in an ongoing series of resolutions we see on the House floor pushing us toward war against Iran. I have no doubt that we will see another similar resolution on the floor next week, and the week after, and so on until we find ourselves making another tragic mistake as we did in 2002 with H.J. Res. 114 giving the President the authority to attack Iraq.

I urge my colleagues to resist this push to war with Iran before it is too late.