[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 609 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 609

Recognizing April 4, 2024, as the International Day for Mine Awareness 
 and Assistance in Mine Action, and reaffirming the leadership of the 
    United States in eliminating landmines and unexploded ordnance.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 2024

   Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Welch) submitted the 
 following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
                               Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing April 4, 2024, as the International Day for Mine Awareness 
 and Assistance in Mine Action, and reaffirming the leadership of the 
    United States in eliminating landmines and unexploded ordnance.

Whereas landmines and unexploded ordnance threaten the safety, health, and lives 
        of civilian populations and create humanitarian and development 
        challenges that have serious and lasting social, economic, and security 
        consequences for effected populations;
Whereas demining and clearance of unexploded ordnance enables displaced people 
        to return to their homes and has a direct impact on development outcomes 
        such as food security, school attendance, and economic development;
Whereas people in at least 60 countries and other areas are at risk from mines 
        and unexploded ordnance in their communities;
Whereas more than 135,000 deaths and injuries resulting from anti-personnel or 
        anti-vehicle mines and other explosive remnants of war have been 
        recorded in the Landmine Monitor database since 2001, and thousands more 
        individuals around the world are killed and injured by such mines and 
        remnants each year;
Whereas, over the past 3 decades, the United States has been the global leader 
        in supporting efforts to clear mine-contaminated areas around the world, 
        dedicating more than $4,600,000,000 for demining and related programs in 
        120 countries and territories since 1993;
Whereas, since 1989, the United States Agency for International Development has 
        allocated more than $337,000,000 through the Leahy War Victims Fund in 
        more than 50 countries to provide artificial limbs, wheelchairs, 
        rehabilitation, vocational training, and other assistance to survivors 
        of accidents caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance;
Whereas the United States Government expressed its support for the Maputo +15 
        declaration of June 27, 2014, which established the goal ``to destroy 
        all stockpiled anti-personnel mines and clear all mined areas as soon as 
        possible'';
Whereas there are 164 States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the 
        Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and 
        on their Destruction, done at the Oslo Landmine Conference, September 
        18, 1997;
Whereas the recent use of landmines, cluster bombs, and other munitions, 
        particularly in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Burma, and Ukraine, has 
        created new humanitarian priorities and funding requirements for 
        demining, while legacy mine contamination remains an urgent challenge 
        impacting millions of people globally;
Whereas Russia's aggression in Ukraine has resulted in an estimated one third of 
        the territory being contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance, 
        creating a massive need for clearance operations as a prerequisite for 
        Ukraine's recovery;
Whereas these needs in Ukraine do not diminish the similarly urgent need for 
        humanitarian demining in other parts of the world;
Whereas additional resources for demining will be needed to achieve a world free 
        of the threat of landmines and other explosive hazards; and
Whereas, on December 8, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly declared that 
        April 4th of each year shall be observed as the International Day for 
        Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
        support international humanitarian efforts to eliminate 
        landmines and unexploded ordnance;
            (2) recognizes those individuals in numerous countries who, 
        at great risk to their personal safety, work to locate and 
        remove anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance;
            (3) affirms its support for the goal, as expressed by the 
        Maputo +15 declaration of June 27, 2014, to intensify efforts 
        to clear mined areas to the fullest extent possible by 2025;
            (4) calls upon the United States Government--
                    (A) to continue providing the funding necessary to 
                support international humanitarian demining activities;
                    (B) to maintain its international leadership role 
                in seeking to rid the world of areas contaminated by 
                landmines and unexploded ordnance; and
                    (C) to rededicate itself to addressing legacy mine 
                contamination as an urgent humanitarian priority; and
            (5) reaffirms the goals of the International Day for Mine 
        Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
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