[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 966 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 966
Condemning rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas in its war
against Israel.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 16, 2024
Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida (for herself, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Ms. Manning,
Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, Ms. Adams, Mr. Aderholt, Mr. Armstrong, Mr.
Auchincloss, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Bilirakis, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Boyle of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Carey, Mr. Carl, Ms.
Castor of Florida, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Ciscomani, Mr. Cline,
Mr. Cole, Mr. Costa, Ms. Craig, Mr. D'Esposito, Ms. Dean of
Pennsylvania, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Donalds, Mr. Duarte, Mr. Dunn of
Florida, Mr. Evans, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Finstad, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr.
Fleischmann, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. Frost, Mr. Fry, Mr.
Gallagher, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Garbarino, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Goldman of New
York, Mrs. Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. Granger, Mr. Graves of
Louisiana, Mr. Harris, Mrs. Harshbarger, Mrs. Hinson, Ms. Norton, Ms.
Houlahan, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Kean of New Jersey, Mr. Keating, Mrs.
Kim of California, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Kustoff, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Lamborn,
Mr. Landsman, Mr. Langworthy, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mr. LaTurner,
Mr. Lawler, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Letlow, Mr. Lieu, Mrs. Luna, Ms.
Mace, Mr. Magaziner, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Mast, Mrs. McBath, Mr.
McCaul, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McCormick, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Meng, Mrs.
Miller of West Virginia, Mr. Miller of Ohio, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr.
Moore of Utah, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Nickel, Mr. Norcross, Mr.
Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Pallone, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Pascrell, Mr.
Peters, Ms. Pingree, Ms. Porter, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Ryan,
Ms. Salazar, Ms. Salinas, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schneider,
Ms. Schrier, Mr. Self, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Sherrill, Ms. Slotkin, Mr.
Soto, Mrs. Spartz, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Steube, Ms. Stevens,
Mr. Takano, Ms. Tenney, Mr. Thanedar, Mr. Thompson of California, Ms.
Titus, Ms. Tokuda, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. Torres of New York,
Mrs. Trahan, Mr. Trone, Mr. Van Drew, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Walberg, Mr.
Waltz, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. Weber of Texas,
Ms. Wild, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Wilson of Florida, Mr. Wilson of
South Carolina, Mr. Yakym, Mr. Foster, Mrs. Dingell, Ms. Matsui, Ms.
DeGette, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Williams of New York, Ms. Escobar, Mr.
Alford, Ms. Lee of Nevada, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Mills, Ms. Brown, Mr.
Phillips, Mr. Ivey, Mrs. Sykes, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
and Mr. Cohen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Condemning rape and sexual violence committed by Hamas in its war
against Israel.
Whereas, on October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel and brutally
murdered 1,200 men, women, and children, injured thousands, and took 240
hostages including babies and children;
Whereas Israeli police have gathered thousands of testimonies from eyewitnesses
of Hamas violence on October 7, 2023, including countless instances of
rape, gang rape, sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual violence,
and are continuing to gather evidence;
Whereas photographic evidence, forensic medical units, and morgue workers have
identified bodies subjected to mutilation and trauma consistent with
sexual assault and rape, including shattered pelvises;
Whereas eyewitness accounts from survivors of the attacks and Hamas body camera
footage in Israel's southern communities and the Nova music festival in
Re'im document gang rape and genital mutilation;
Whereas terrorists captured by Israeli security forces admitted they had been
ordered by Hamas leaders to carry out sexual violence against Israeli
civilians;
Whereas it has been reported that many victims of rape and sexual assault on
October 7th, were murdered by the Hamas perpetrators and are unable to
provide testimony;
Whereas released Israeli hostages have reported instances of sexual assault or
abuse that occurred while held hostage by Hamas;
Whereas Israel's police, in coordination with Shin Bet, Israel's internal
security service, has launched investigations to build cases on charges
of mass murder, rape, torture, and bodily mutilation of civilians during
the Hamas attacks;
Whereas human rights lawyers, criminologists, and researchers leading the
``Israeli Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas against Women
and Children'' have concluded that Hamas terrorists ``weaponized
violence against women'' to inflict physical and psychological trauma;
Whereas rape and sexual violence have, throughout history, been used as weapons
of war around the world to terrorize and subvert populations;
Whereas rape and sexual violence have serious and difficult mental, physical,
and emotional impacts on victims, their families, and communities; and
Whereas some international bodies have been slow to condemn Hamas brutal actions
on October 7th, and in some cases, failed to explicitly mention
instances of sexual and gender-based violence against women: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns all rape and forms of sexual violence as
weapons of war, including those acts committed by Hamas
terrorists on and since October 7th;
(2) calls on all nations to criminalize rape and sexual
assault, and hold accountable all perpetrators of sexual
violence, including state and non-state armed groups;
(3) calls on all international bodies to unequivocally
condemn the barbaric murder, rape, sexual assault, and
kidnapping by Hamas and other terrorists on and since October
7th, and hold accountable all perpetrators;
(4) reaffirms the United States Government's support for
independent, impartial investigations of rape and sexual
violence committed by Hamas on and since October 7th; and
(5) reaffirms its commitment to supporting survivors of
rape and sexual violence, including those brutalized on and
since October 7.
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