[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 796 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 796
Recognizing the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the United
Nations.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 8, 2020
Mr. Booker submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the United
Nations.
Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt coined the phrase ``United Nations''
in January 1942;
Whereas 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the Charter of the United
Nations in 1945;
Whereas, on June 26, 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San
Francisco at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on
International Organization, and came into force on October 24, 1945;
Whereas, June 26, 2020, marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the
United Nations;
Whereas, on September 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is the cornerstone for
modern-day human rights and the world's most translated document;
Whereas, in September 1960, 17 newly independent countries, including 16 from
Africa, joined the United Nations, marking the biggest increase in
membership in any one year;
Whereas the United Nations has greatly contributed to international peace and
security;
Whereas the United Nations has provided a forum for the achievement of
international cooperation to address international economic, social,
cultural, and humanitarian problems, including promoting cooperation on
climate change, supporting human rights, and combating human
trafficking;
Whereas, since 1948, the United Nations has deployed 71 peacekeeping and
observation missions to some of the world's most complex regions and
countries;
Whereas the United Nations peacekeeping missions have been charged with mandates
to stabilize conflict zones after a cease-fire, assist in the
implementation of comprehensive peace agreements, protect civilians from
violence, facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable
communities, and create stable governing institutions in fragile states;
Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers played an instrumental role in
stabilizing Liberia following two devastating civil wars, paving the way
in 2018 for the first peaceful transition of power between
democratically elected Presidents in the country since 1944;
Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers helped to avert a genocide in the
Central African Republic, continue to protect tens of thousands of
civilians from ethnic and political violence in South Sudan, provide
security to health workers battling the second largest Ebola outbreak in
history in eastern Congo, and play an important role in ensuring that
calm and stability prevail along the Israel-Lebanon border;
Whereas, in 2006, under the leadership of the United Nations, member nations
adopted the first-ever global strategy to counter terrorism, which was
followed by other global agreements, including agreements against
hostage taking, aircraft hijacking, terrorism bombings, and terrorism
financing;
Whereas the United States has used its permanent seat on the United Nations
Security Council to push for the adoption of multilateral sanctions,
including asset freezes, travel bans, arms embargoes, trade
restrictions, and other measures, against terrorist organizations like
al-Qaida and ISIS, rogue states that seek to obtain weapons of mass
destruction like North Korea, and countries embroiled by internal armed
conflict such as South Sudan;
Whereas the United Nations has provided electoral assistance to more than 100
countries and helped facilitate the transition to democracy in these
countries, observing landmark elections in Cambodia, El Salvador, South
Africa, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Iraq, Nepal, Afghanistan, and
Sierra Leone;
Whereas the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in
September 2015, requiring member nations to commit to eradicating
extreme poverty, fighting inequality, empowering women and girls,
protecting natural resources, improving governance, and encouraging
sustainable and inclusive economic growth;
Whereas the United Nations has played a critical role in improving global public
health, including through the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/
AIDS;
Whereas the World Health Organization, a United Nations specialized agency,
serves as a multilateral coordinating body responsible for monitoring
and leading the response to outbreaks of infectious disease,
spearheading vaccination efforts, and developing campaigns to combat
life-threatening illnesses like polio and malaria;
Whereas the World Health Organization played a central role in the eradication
of smallpox in 1979, to date the only human disease ever to be
eradicated;
Whereas the United Nations Population Fund aims to end the unmet need for family
planning, end preventable maternal deaths, and end gender-based violence
and harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital
mutilation by 2030 in all countries, including those affected by
conflict and disaster;
Whereas the United Nations Population Fund has helped reduce maternal mortality
by half since 1990;
Whereas the United Nations Children's Fund is active in 190 countries and
territories to reach the children and young people in greatest need;
Whereas the United Nations World Food Program reaches more than 86,000,000
people in 83 countries annually;
Whereas the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) seeks to build peace through international cooperation in
education, the sciences, and culture, and is preserving 1,073 World
Heritage sites in 167 countries;
Whereas today, with global population displacement at the highest level recorded
since World War II, the World Food Program, together with the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Children's Fund,
and other United Nations agencies, is feeding, clothing, and sheltering
millions from Syria, Iraq, the Central African Republic, and numerous
other countries;
Whereas the ongoing COVID-19 crisis highlights the need for strong and
collective multilateral action;
Whereas, since the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the entire United
Nations system has been hard at work: The World Health Organization
(WHO) is on the ground in over 140 countries helping countries scale-up
testing and access essential personal protective equipment, while also
coordinating research and innovation efforts to advance drugs, vaccines,
and diagnostics; the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is scaling up assistance
to refugee camps; UNICEF is supporting the millions of children who are
out of school; the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is strengthening health
systems to ensure reproductive and maternal health care; the World Food
Programme (WFP) has established air hubs to distribute vital food and
medical supplies across Africa; and United Nations peacekeeping missions
are using troop patrols to educate on mitigation measures.
Whereas, in Yemen, which has been on the brink of famine for several years and
where 80 percent of the population relies on humanitarian aid to
survive, United Nations agencies are working to reach 12,000,000 people
each month with food and nutritional assistance, respond to a cholera
epidemic that has sickened nearly 1,000,000 people since January 2018,
rehabilitate irrigation systems and provide agricultural inputs to
increase domestic food production, and provide reproductive health care
and safe delivery services to women;
Whereas the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is working
to broker a diplomatic solution to the conflict and organized the first
direct talks between the Government of Yemen and Houthis in December
2018, resulting in an agreement for a cease-fire and military
redeployment from the port of Hodeidah;
Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
plays a leading role in helping to elevate and advance human rights
throughout the world;
Whereas, in recent years, the Office of the High Commissioner has aided efforts
to uncover and report on abuses in Syria, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela,
Sri Lanka, Yemen, Myanmar, Iraq, Belarus, and a host of other countries;
Whereas these types of activities help raise public awareness of human rights
violations, magnify the voices of dissidents and civil society
organizations on the ground, and provide a tool for pressuring
repressive governments and holding abusers accountable;
Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has implemented key
reforms, and continues to be committed to instituting necessary reforms
to improve the effectiveness of the United Nations and strengthen
oversight;
Whereas 2020 marks the start of the decade of action and delivery for the
Sustainable Development Goals, major conferences on climate change,
biodiversity, nuclear nonproliferation, and health, the 25th anniversary
of the landmark Beijing World Conference on Women, the 20th anniversary
of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and the 10th
anniversary of United Nations Women, among others;
Whereas the United Nations remains an indispensable partner for the United
States as Congress works to protect United States national security and
foreign policy interests around the world;
Whereas the United Nations conducts business with numerous United States
corporations and organizations and annually awards United States
businesses with over $1,000,000,000 in contracts;
Whereas these contracts were executed in 30 States and more than 100 cities and
communities, benefitting hundreds of Americans who work to provide the
United Nations a range of critical goods and services, including
telecommunications, construction, food production, and military
supplies; and
Whereas the participation and leadership by the United States in the United
Nations is essential to securing United States interests in
international peace and security: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) recognizes the 75th anniversary of the establishment of
the United Nations;
(2) recognizes the United Nations for the critical role it
plays in maintaining international peace and security;
(3) applauds the United Nations for its leadership and
ongoing efforts in addressing global health crises, including
the global fight against HIV/AIDS;
(4) applauds the United Nations for its response to
unprecedented humanitarian crises that have resulted in
staggering escalation of displacements and suffering in
countries such as Yemen, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, the
Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo;
(5) commends the United Nations for its commitment to
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; and
(6) urges the President to issue a proclamation calling on
the people of the United States to observe the 75th anniversary
of the establishment of the United Nations with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.
<all>