[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 337 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 337

  Honoring Seeds of Peace for its 15th anniversary as an organization 
 promoting understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, coexistence, and 
  peace in the Middle East, South Asia, and other regions of conflict.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 29, 2008

   Mr. Allen (for himself, Mr. Towns, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Michaud, Mr. 
 Wexler, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Sutton, Mr. McDermott, Mr. 
Farr, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Waxman, Mrs. Tauscher, Mr. Lewis of 
Georgia, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Ms. Jackson-Lee 
     of Texas, Mr. Engel, Mr. Israel, Mr. Delahunt, Mrs. Davis of 
California, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Berman, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Olver, 
Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Levin, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Tanner, 
 Mr. Miller of North Carolina, Mr. Markey, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
 Dingell, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, Ms. Schwartz, Mr. 
    Scott of Georgia, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Mr. 
   Fortenberry, Mr. Burton of Indiana, and Mr. Chabot) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                            Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
  Honoring Seeds of Peace for its 15th anniversary as an organization 
 promoting understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, coexistence, and 
  peace in the Middle East, South Asia, and other regions of conflict.

Whereas Seeds of Peace, founded by the late John Wallach, is a program that 
        brings together young people and educators from regions of conflict to 
        study and learn about coexistence and conflict resolution;
Whereas these young people study and learn primarily at an international 
        conflict resolution summer camp operated by Seeds of Peace in Otisfield, 
        Maine, and also through its regional programs such as the facilitation 
        training course in the Middle East, the homestay programs in South Asia, 
        and international regional conferences;
Whereas the first international conflict resolution camp welcomed Israeli, 
        Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian youths in the summer of 1993, and 
        has since expanded to involve youths from other regions of conflict, 
        including from Greece, Turkey and divided Cyprus, the Balkans, India, 
        Pakistan, and Afghanistan;
Whereas Seeds of Peace utilizes the summer camp to initiate dialogue between the 
        youths of the United States and the youths from various conflict regions 
        to dispel hatred and create religious and cultural understanding;
Whereas Seeds of Peace regional programs have trained hundreds of educators to 
        teach peaceful conflict resolutions techniques in their classrooms, 
        positively influencing thousands of students;
Whereas Seeds of Peace works to dispel fear, mistrust, and prejudice, which 
        among others are root causes of violence and conflict, and to build a 
        new generation of leaders who are committed to achieving peace;
Whereas Seeds of Peace reveals the human face of those whom youth may have been 
        taught to hate, by engaging campers in both guided coexistence sessions 
        and ordinary summer camp activities such as living together in cabins, 
        sharing meals, canoeing, swimming, playing sports, and creative 
        exploration through the arts and computers;
Whereas long-term peace between Arabs and Israelis, Indians and Pakistanis, and 
        Afghans and Pakistanis can only be achieved with the emergence of a new 
        generation of leaders who will choose dialogue, friendship, and openness 
        over violence and hatred;
Whereas Seeds of Peace provides year-round opportunities via regional 
        programming and innovative technology to enable former participants to 
        build on the relationships forged at camp, so that the learning 
        processes begun at camp may continue subsequently in the participants' 
        home countries;
Whereas youth graduates of the camp, known as Seeds, currently number over 
        4,000, with an additional 567 adult delegation leaders also having 
        completed Seeds of Peace training;
Whereas this graduate network receives continued support from Seeds of Peace in 
        promoting professional cooperation;
Whereas Seeds of Peace is strongly supported by participating governments and 
        many world leaders; and
Whereas continued partial Federal funding for Seeds of Peace demonstrates its 
        recognized importance in promoting peaceful resolution of conflicts as a 
        primary goal of United States policy: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) reaffirms that youth should be involved in long-term, 
        visionary solutions to violent conflicts;
            (2) honors the accomplishments of Seeds of Peace in its 15 
        years of promoting understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, 
        coexistence, and peace among youth from the Middle East and 
        other regions of conflict around the world; and
            (3) views Seeds of Peace as a highly creative and 
        successful effort to achieve reconciliation among peoples from 
        areas of conflict, which inspires great hope that nations in 
        conflict ultimately can learn to live together in peace, 
        cooperation, and security.
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