[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 26 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 26

   Urging the President to redirect United States foreign assistance 
     policies and spending priorities toward promoting sustainable 
  development, which reduces global hunger and poverty, protects the 
                  environment, and promotes democracy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                May 24 (legislative day, April 19), 1993

   Mr. Simon (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Wofford, Mr. 
     Kennedy, Mr. DeConcini, Mr. Feingold, Ms. Moseley-Braun, Mr. 
    Durenberger, and Mr. Akaka) submitted the following concurrent 
   resolution; which was referred to the Committee Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
   Urging the President to redirect United States foreign assistance 
     policies and spending priorities toward promoting sustainable 
  development, which reduces global hunger and poverty, protects the 
                  environment, and promotes democracy.

Whereas the easing of Cold War tensions requires a reassessment of United States 
        foreign assistance objectives, programs, and spending priorities, and 
        presents a unique opportunity to shift the emphasis from military and 
        security-related priorities to addressing the urgent and interrelated 
        problems of poverty and environmental destruction;
Whereas the post-Cold War world is one of tremendous human deprivation in which 
        more than one-fifth of humanity exists in poverty, living a life of 
        hunger, illness, and illiteracy;
Whereas tens of thousands of children in the developing world die each day, many 
        of them from preventable diseases, and millions of other children are 
        disabled or blind as a result of malnutrition;
Whereas in recent decades, the income gap between richest and poorest countries 
        has widened, due in part to the large accumulated debt of many 
        developing countries, with many countries now paying more in debt 
        service than they receive in assistance and investment;
Whereas this debt and the resulting economic adjustments have taken their 
        heaviest toll on the poor, especially women, in the form of higher food 
        prices, reduced health care, education, housing, and other social 
        services, and higher unemployment;
Whereas poverty-related conditions foster rapid population growth, which in turn 
        exacerbates pressures on land and other natural resources, worsens 
        unemployment, and strains government services;
Whereas poverty-related conditions of hunger, illiteracy, disease, and 
        environmental degradation pose a serious threat to the economic and 
        physical security of the United States and the world;
Whereas such conditions impede economic growth, undermine new democracies, fuel 
        political instability within countries and across regions, foster 
        displacement and massive migration, allow the spread of acquired immune 
        deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and other epidemics, and damage the 
        environment;
Whereas the United States therefore has a direct self-interest in promoting 
        development that will avert such threats and has historically been a 
        leader in providing assistance in response to humanitarian emergencies;
Whereas United States development cooperation has made valuable contributions to 
        sustainable development through selected bilateral economic assistance 
        programs, and through selected contributions to multilateral 
        organizations and programs;
Whereas nongovernmental organizations, both in the United States and in 
        developing countries, are often highly qualified actors in promoting 
        grassroots development, strengthening civil society, and providing 
        humanitarian assistance;
Whereas only 1 percent of the United States Government budget is spent on 
        foreign assistance, and only approximately 28 percent of that amount 
        goes toward programs focused on sustainable development and humanitarian 
        needs; and
Whereas since the mid-1980s, resources have begun to shift within the foreign 
        assistance budget toward increased expenditures for humanitarian and 
        sustainable development programs: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Many Neighbors, One Earth 
Resolution''.

SEC. 2. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND PROGRAM OF ACTION.

    (a) In General.--The President is urged to develop and implement a 
coordinated economic and development policy and program of action 
designed to promote broad-based, sustainable development.
    (b) Principal Objectives.--This policy and program of action should 
have as principal objectives the following elements of sustainable 
development, which are interrelated and mutually reinforcing:
            (1) Economic opportunities.--Expanding economic 
        opportunities for women and men, especially the poor, to 
        increase their productivity, earning capacity, and income in 
        ways that do not harm the environment.
            (2) Basic human needs.--Helping people meet their basic 
        human needs for food, clean water, shelter, health care, and 
        education necessary for all people to be productive and to 
        improve their quality of life.
            (3) Environmental protection and sustainable use of natural 
        resources.--Promoting environmental protection and sustainable 
        use of land, water, forests, and other natural resources, 
        taking into account the needs of present and future 
        generations.
            (4) Pluralism, democratic participation, and human 
        rights.--Promoting pluralism, democratic participation in 
        economic and political decisions that affect the lives of all 
        people (including participation of the poor), and respect for 
        human and civil rights, including the rights of females and 
        indigenous peoples.
    (c) All Relevant Activities of the Government To Be Included.--This 
policy and program of action should involve all relevant international 
activities of the United States Government, including--
            (1) bilateral economic assistance programs;
            (2) contributions to international and multilateral 
        development agencies and institutions;
            (3) policies concerning international agricultural, 
        environmental, health, energy, trade, debt, and monetary 
        issues; and
            (4) foreign military assistance programs.
    (d) Specific Actions To Be Taken.--In furtherance of this policy 
and program of action, the President is urged to do the following:
            (1) Work with Congress to enact legislation providing for a 
        post-Cold War foreign assistance program that would have as its 
        primary purpose the promotion of sustainable development and 
        that would incorporate the objectives set forth in subsection 
        (b).
            (2) Ensure that development cooperation programs conform to 
        the objectives in subsection (b) in ways that invigorate local 
        community-based development through taking into account the 
        relevant local-level perspectives of its beneficiaries 
        (including women, minorities, and indigenous people) during the 
        design, planning, implementation, and evaluation process for 
        project and program assistance. Toward this objective, the 
        agency primarily responsible for administering such assistance 
        should consult closely with indigenous and United States-based 
        nongovernmental organizations that have demonstrated 
        effectiveness in community-based development on behalf of 
        sustainable development in developing countries.
            (3) Provide government-to-government assistance only to 
        countries that exhibit a commitment to development that 
        promotes the objectives set forth in subsection (b) through 
        relevant sectoral and national policies, with priority given to 
        countries that have the highest incidence of hunger and 
        poverty.
            (4) Encourage and support the efforts of countries to 
        reduce their level of military spending when such spending is 
        disproportionate to security needs and disproportionate to 
        spending on health, education, and environmental protection.
            (5) Exercise leadership in building the global commitment 
        and cooperation necessary for countries to make significant 
        progress toward the goals adopted at the 1992 International 
        Conference on Nutrition, the 1992 United Nations Conference on 
        Environment and Development, the 1990 World Summit for 
        Children, and the 1985 World Conference on Women.
            (6) Enter into negotiations with highly indebted poor 
        countries that are committed to sustainable development on 
        reducing the debt owed by such countries to the United States 
        Government, when debt reduction will support their sustainable 
        development strategies.
            (7) Develop and propose an effective system of evaluation 
        and accountability for programs and projects of development 
        cooperation, particularly regarding their effectiveness in 
        furthering the objectives set forth in subsection (b).
            (8) Examine the necessity of restructuring or replacing the 
        Agency for International Development in order to have an 
        effective bilateral development cooperation program that can 
        achieve the objectives set forth in subsection (b).
            (9) Give greater attention to linking emergency relief 
        efforts to conflict resolution, rehabilitation, and longer-term 
        development activities.
            (10) Increase from approximately 30 percent in fiscal year 
        1993 to at least 35 percent in each of fiscal years 1994 
        through 1997 the share of foreign assistance funds directed to 
        programs that best serve sustainable development and 
        humanitarian needs, including programs for basic human needs, 
        microenterprise and credit, appropriate technology, sustainable 
        agriculture, fisheries, forestry and water management, 
        environmental restoration and conservation, strengthening civil 
        society and human rights, voluntary cooperation, disaster 
        assistance, refugee assistance, and emergency and developmental 
        food assistance.
            (11) Make every effort to increase, consistently, the 
        absolute amount of funding for such programs in developing 
        countries through reallocating funds within the bilateral 
        economic assistance budget and by transferring funds out of 
        security assistance programs.

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