The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to help find the Gaza killers of three American contractors in 2003.
Passed Monday in a unanimous voice vote, the bill requires detailed reports from the State Department every six months on Palestinian efforts to bring to justice the killers of Mark Parson, John Branchizio and John Marin Linde. They were killed by a roadside bomb in October 2003 while providing security for U.S. diplomatic personnel traveling in the Gaza Strip.
Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), who proposed the bill, called the investigation by the Palestinian Authority a “farce” and criticized the Bush administration for not making a priority of finding the killers.
“The vital national security interests of the United States require us to safeguard, to the greatest extent possible consistent with their mission, United States diplomats and all embassy and consulate personnel, and to use the full power of the United States to bring to justice any individual or entity that threatens, jeopardizes or harms them,” Ackerman said.
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