Under the sponsorship of the Democratic and Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, more than half the members of the House signed a concurrent resolution today condemning the Palestine Liberation Organization for its attack on unarmed civilians in Israel Saturday and deplored the statements of approval for the terrorist assault by various Arab and other governments.
In less than a full day the resolution attracted the signatures of 243 of the 435 members of the House. Rep. Jim Wright (D. Tex.), the Majority Leader and Rep. John Rhodes (R. Ariz.), the Minority Leader, were co-sponsors of the measure and will introduce it in the House, probably later today. Once it is approved it will, as a concurrent resolution, go to the Senate.
The resolution was initiated by Rep. Sidney Yates (D. III.), dean of Jewish Congressmen in the House. In a “Dear Colleague” letter, Yates set forth the five points of the resolution.
In essence it condemns the PLO for its brutal attack; condemns the PLO for its announced intention of seeking to thwart efforts by the governments of Egypt and Israel to negotiate a peace agreement; deplores statements of approval for the PLO attack by various governments; expresses hope for the successful conclusion of the Egyptian-Israeli negotiations; and considers the conclusion of an agreement between the two countries to be the means to achieve peace and prosperity in the Middle East. The resolution refers six times to the PLO in terms of condemnation.
Dealing with the PLO, reporters at the State department news briefing yesterday noted that PLO chief Yasir Arafat and the PLO seemed to be taking credit for the outrage and asked State Department spokesman Hodding Carter whether in view of this the U.S. would permanently exclude the PLO from the negotiating process. Carter replied: “Anyone who is responsible for this raid is automatically included in the total condemnation that we have expressed for its effects and the fact of it.”
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