H.Res.60
Whereas for 3,000 years Jerusalem has been the focal
point of Jewish religious devotion;
Whereas Jerusalem today is also considered a holy city
by members of the Christian and Muslim faiths;
Whereas there has been a continuous Jewish presence
in Jerusalem for three millennia and a Jewish majority in the city since
the 1840's;
Whereas the once thriving Jewish majority of the historic
Old City of Jerusalem was driven out by force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli
War;
Whereas from 1948 to 1967 Jerusalem was a divided city
and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of all
states were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan;
Whereas in 1967 Jerusalem was reunited by Israel during
the conflict known as the Six Day War;
Whereas since 1967 Jerusalem has been a united city,
and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access
to holy sites within the city;
Whereas this year marks the 30th year that Jerusalem
has been administered as a unified city in which the rights of all faiths
have been respected and protected;
Whereas in 1990 the United States Senate and House
of Representatives overwhelmingly adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution
106 and House Concurrent Resolution 290 declaring that Jerusalem, the
capital of Israel, `must remain an undivided city' and calling on Israel
and the Palestinians to undertake negotiations to resolve their differences;
Whereas Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel later
cited Senate Concurrent Resolution 106 as having `helped our neighbors
reach the negotiating table' to produce the historic Declaration of
Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements, signed in Washington,
D.C. on September 13, 1993; and
Whereas the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law
104-45), which became law on November 8, 1995, states as a matter of
United States policy that Jerusalem should remain the undivided capital
of Israel: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress--
(1) congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and
the people of Israel on the 30th anniversary of the reunification
of that historic city;
(2) strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city
in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected
as they have been by Israel during the past 30 years;
(3) calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to affirm
publicly as a matter of United States policy that Jerusalem must remain
the undivided capital of the State of Israel; and
(4) urges United States officials to refrain from any actions that
contradict this policy.
Passed the House of Representatives June 10, 1997.