[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 361 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 361
Supporting the recognition of April 4, 2025, 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 30, 2025
Mr. Bera (for himself and Mr. Valadao) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and
in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Supporting the recognition of April 4, 2025, 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 affected 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 antipersonnel or
antivehicle 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 landmines contaminate countries in which the United States Armed Forces
have been engaged in combat or stabilization operations, including Iraq,
Syria, Kosovo, Somalia, and in the Pacific Islands, posing a significant
risk to United States military personnel;
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, although the United States is not yet among them;
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, but acknowledging that 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;
Whereas, since the end of the Vietnam war, more than 40,000 people in Vietnam
have been killed by unexploded ordnance and 60,000 injured, at least
25,000 people have been killed or injured by explosives in Laos, and at
least 65,000 people in Cambodia since 1979; 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 House of Representatives--
(1) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to
support international humanitarian efforts to eliminate
landmines and unexploded ordnance;
(2) recognizes the communities from Cambodia, Laos, and
Vietnam including the many Hmong, Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien,
Khmu, Lao, Montagnard, and Vietnamese people who supported and
defended the United States Armed Forces during the conflict in
Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s;
(3) remembers the 50th anniversary of the end of the
Vietnam war and the sacrifices of the members of the United
States Armed Forces that served in the conflict;
(4) recognizes those individuals in numerous countries who,
at great risk to their personal safety, work to locate and
remove antipersonnel landmines and unexploded ordnance;
(5) 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;
(6) 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
(7) reaffirms the goals of the International Day for Mine
Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
<all>