Congress considers Jerusalem resolutions

Resolutions in both houses of Congress promote the unity of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty. Both resolutions are timed to commemorate 40 years of Israeli sovereignty throughout the city, which will be marked in June. The nonbinding resolution introduced Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) calls on President Bush to stop exercising his waiver of a law that mandates moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, and “calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to repeatedly affirm publicly, as a matter of United States policy, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel.” Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), a candidate for president, introduced a similar bill in the Senate on the same day.The measure was enacted in 1995, but President Clinton and now Bush have waived the law for national security reasons and to advance peace talks.