[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 87 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. CON. RES. 87

    Commending the Holy See for making significant contributions to 
international peace and human rights, and objecting to efforts to expel 
    the Holy See from the United Nations by removing the Holy See's 
    Permanent Observer status in the United Nations, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 1, 2000

 Mr. Smith of New Hampshire (for himself, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Helms, Ms. 
   Landrieu, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
   Coverdell, and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following concurrent 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
    Commending the Holy See for making significant contributions to 
international peace and human rights, and objecting to efforts to expel 
    the Holy See from the United Nations by removing the Holy See's 
    Permanent Observer status in the United Nations, and for other 
                               purposes.

Whereas the Holy See is the governing authority of the sovereign State of 
        Vatican City;
Whereas the Holy See has an internationally recognized legal personality, which 
        allows it to enter into treaties as the juridical equal of a state and 
        to send and receive diplomatic representatives;
Whereas the diplomatic history of the Holy See began over 1,600 years ago, 
        during the 4th century A.D., and the Holy See currently has formal 
        diplomatic relations with 169 nations, including the United States, and 
        maintains 179 permanent diplomatic missions abroad;
Whereas, although the Holy See was an active participant in a wide range of 
        United Nations activities since 1946, and was eligible to become a 
        member state of the United Nations, it chose instead to become a 
        nonmember state with Permanent Observer status over 36 years ago, in 
        1964;
Whereas, unlike other geographically small countries such as Monaco, Nauru, San 
        Marino, and Liechtenstein, the Holy See does not possess a vote in the 
        General Assembly of the United Nations;
Whereas, according to a July 1998 assessment by the United States Department of 
        State, ``(t)he United States values the Holy See's significant 
        contributions to international peace and human rights'';
Whereas during the past year, certain organizations that oppose the views of the 
        Holy See regarding abortion and the sanctity of human life have 
        initiated an organized effort to pressure the United Nations to remove 
        the Permanent Observer status of the Holy See; and
Whereas the removal of the Holy See's Permanent Observer status would constitute 
        an expulsion of the Holy See from the United Nations as a state 
        participant: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress
            (1) commends the Holy See for its unique contributions to a 
        thoughtful and robust dialogue in issues of international 
        concern during its 36 years as a Permanent Observer at the 
        United Nations;
            (2) strongly objects to any effort to expel the Holy See 
        from the United Nations as a state participant by removing its 
        status as a nonmember state Permanent Observer;
            (3) believes that any degradation of the status accorded to 
        the Holy See at the United Nations would seriously damage the 
        credibility of the United Nations by demonstrating that its 
        rules of participation are manipulable for ideological reasons 
        rather than being rooted in neutral principles and objective 
        facts of sovereignty; and
            (4) contends that any degradation of the status of the Holy 
        See will damage relations between the United States and the 
        United Nations.
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