42 cosponsors
Reaffirms two resolutions passed in 2004, H. Con. Res. 460 of 6/22/04 and S. Res. 393 of 6/24/04, which endorsed a 4/14/04 letter from President George W. Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In the letter Bush stated that an Israeli return to the 1949 armistice lines would be unrealistic and that any final status agreement with the Palestinians would be achieved only on the basis of mutually agreed changes in which Israel retains major settlement blocks. Whereas clauses in this resolution repeat ‘Whereas 502 Members of the 108th Congress affirmed that…’ for each point in the Bush letter.
The Senate passed S. Res. 393 on 6/24/04 by a vote of 95-3 and the House passed H. Con. Res. 460 on 6/23/04 by a vote of 407-9-3.
This resolution was introduced during the 2011 AIPAC policy conference (5/22 – 5/24/11) and on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed a joint meeting of Congress demanding that Palestinians accept modifications to the 1967 borders and Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its undivided capital. Both the resolution and Netanyahu’s speech were seen as rebuttals to Barack Obama’s 5/19/11 speech in which he called for negotiations based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps and secure borders for Israel. AIPAC identified this resolution as a top legislative priority for 2011.
In addition to Robert Dold, 29 of the resolution’s 42 cosponsors (8/4/11) are affiliated with the Tea Party. Only two cosponsors are Democrats.
More on:
Borders and the peace process: H. Con. Res. 59 of 6/3/11, S. Con. Res. 23 of 6/10/11, and H. Res. 314 of 6/16/11
Security commitments to Israel: H.R. 1609 of 4/15/11, H. Res. 270 of 5/23/11, H. R. 2583 of 7/19/11, H. Res. 441 of 10/14/11