122b
S.Con.Res. 50
Agreed to November 21, 1993
One Hundred Third Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the fifth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-three
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas the signing on September 13, 1993, of the Declaration of
Principles between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the
Government of Israel signals a new era of cooperation in the Middle
East;
Whereas a true peace in the Middle East can only be established and
remain in effect if there is economic stability and cooperation in the
region;
Whereas adherence to the Arab League boycott of Israel is a source of
economic instability in the Middle East;
Whereas the members of the Arab League instituted a primary boycott
against Israel in 1948;
Whereas in the early 1950's the Arab states instituted a secondary and
tertiary boycott against United States and other firms because of
their commercial ties to Israel;
Whereas the boycott attempts to use economic blackmail to force United
States firms to comply with boycott regulation;
Whereas the boycott was cited by the United States Trade Representative
in the 1992 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers
as an ``additional legal restraint to United States trade in the
region'';
Whereas hundreds of United States firms have been blacklisted and barred
from doing business with members of the Arab League under the
secondary and tertiary boycott;
Whereas the total damage caused by the boycott is unknown because the
number of United States firms that conduct business with Israel have
not attempted commercial transactions with members of the Arab League;
due to the boycott is uncertain; and
Whereas the United States has a policy of prohibiting United States
firms from providing Arab states with the requested information about
compliance to boycott regulation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This resolution may be cited as the ``Anti-Boycott Resolution of
1993''.
SEC. 2. EXPRESSION OF CONGRESSIONAL VIEWS.
The Congress--
(1) believes the continuation of the Arab League boycott of
Israel will be a severe impediment to the economic prosperity of all
participating nations and to the establishment of a lasting peace
and prosperity in the Middle East;
(2) believes the secondary and tertiary boycott cause
substantial economic losses to United States firms;
(3) welcomes the actions by those members of the Arab League
that have begun dismantling the secondary and tertiary boycott, and
urges them to continue their efforts until a complete dissolution of
the primary, secondary, and tertiary boycott is achieved;
(4) hopes that the indefinite postponement of the October 24,
1993, meeting of the Central Boycott Committee signals an end to the
placement of more United States firms on the boycott list and a
willingness to dismantle the boycott in its entirety;
(5) urges those states that have begun to or are considering
dismantling all forms of the boycott to proceed promptly with such
dismantlement;
(6) urges those states that are still enforcing the boycott to
dismantle the boycott in all its forms and to issue the necessary
laws, rules, and regulations to ensure that United States firms have
free and open access to Arab markets regardless of their business
relationships with Israel;
(7) urges those states, in addition, to cease enforcing and
requiring participation in the boycott in its primary, secondary,
and tertiary forms;
(8) urges the United States Government to continue to raise the
boycott as an unfair trade practice in every appropriate
international trade forum; and
(9) expresses the sense of the Congress that the end of the Arab
League boycott of Israel is of great urgency to the United States
Government and will continue to be a priority issue in all bilateral
relations with participating states until its complete dissolution.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
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