[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 165 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. CON. RES. 165

Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the International Year 
                   of the World's Indigenous Peoples.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 14, 1993

 Mr. Porter (for himself, Mr. Lantos, and Mr. Underwood) submitted the 
  following concurrent resolution; which was referred jointly to the 
          Committees on Foreign Affairs and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the Congress concerning the International Year 
                   of the World's Indigenous Peoples.

Whereas United Nations Resolution 45/164 of December 18, 1990, proclaimed the 
        year 1993 as the International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples, 
        in order to strengthen international cooperation for a solution to the 
        problems faced by indigenous communities in areas such as human rights, 
        the environment, development, education, and health;
Whereas indigenous peoples are descendants of the original inhabitants of many 
        countries with many diverse cultures, religions, languages, and social 
        and economic customs;
Whereas an estimated 300,000,000 indigenous peoples live in more than 70 
        countries, including the United States;
Whereas indigenous peoples, one of the most disadvantaged groups on Earth, face 
        difficulties in their homelands with respect to issues such as self-
        determination, the preservation of land and natural resources, the 
        preservation of culture, arts, and language, and social and economic 
        conditions;
Whereas the tremendous contributions to the conservation of biological and 
        cultural diversity by indigenous peoples are often undervalued, and the 
        intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples with respect to the 
        ethnobotanical and medicinal products and seed varieties they develop 
        are often unrecognized;
Whereas many indigenous peoples continue to face discrimination, exploitation, 
        and the denial of basic rights in their homelands;
Whereas the rights and social and economic conditions of indigenous peoples have 
        often been overlooked by individual nations and the international 
        community; and
Whereas the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations has drafted a 
        Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which sets 
        forth such basic human rights and addresses such conditions: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That it is the sense of the Congress that--
            (1) the United States should play an active role in 
        cooperating with indigenous peoples, the United Nations, and 
        national governments to promote public awareness of and improve 
        the political, social, economic, and environmental conditions 
        of indigenous peoples;
            (2) the United States should address the rights and improve 
        the social, economic, and environmental conditions of its own 
        indigenous peoples, including Native American Indians, Alaska 
        Natives, Native Hawaiians, Chamorros, American Samoans, and 
        Palauans;
            (3) the United States should actively support and 
        participate in the work of the United Nations to establish 
        international standards with respect to the rights of 
        indigenous peoples, including the intellectual property rights 
        of indigenous peoples with respect to the ethnobotanical and 
        medicinal plants and seed varieties they develop; and
            (4) the year 1993 is an insufficient time period for 
        promoting public awareness of the plight of indigenous peoples 
        and the United Nations should adopt a resolution declaring an 
        International Decade for the World's Indigenous Peoples.

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