110 HCON 380 IH: Recognizing the 63rd anniversary of the U.S. House of Representatives 2008-06-24 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IV 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. CON. RES. 380 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 24, 2008 Mrs. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Farr, Ms. Bordallo, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Serrano, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Ms. McCollum of Minnesota, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, and Ms. Lee) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Recognizing the 63rd anniversary of the United Nations.

Whereas 2008 marks the 63rd anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations; Whereas, on June 26, 1945, representatives of countries throughout the world, including the United States, signed the Charter of the United Nations, and on October 24, 1945, the Charter entered into force; Whereas article 1 of the United Nations Charter declares that the primary objective of the United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security; Whereas the relationship between the United States and the United Nations is critical to the success of the United Nations in carrying out its mandates; Whereas, over the past 63 years, the United Nations has deployed 63 peacekeeping operations in some of the world’s most complex regions, including Cambodia, Burundi, Sudan, East Timor, El Salvador, Angola, Haiti, Liberia, and Sierra Leone; Whereas United Nations peacekeeping currently has more than 100,000 peacekeepers deployed to keep the peace in 17 conflict areas around the world; Whereas United Nations peacekeeping missions have been charged with mandates such as preventing the outbreak of conflict or the spill-over of conflict across borders, stabilizing conflict situations after a cease-fire, assisting in the implementation of comprehensive peace agreements, and leading countries or territories through a transition to stable government; Whereas the United Nations is also dedicated to the development of friendly relations among countries, based on equal rights and sovereign equality; Whereas, in September 1960, the United Nations accepted 16 African countries as members of the United Nations that had seceded from colonial rule and established their independence; Whereas the United Nations was a major factor in bringing about the downfall of the apartheid system in South Africa by imposing measures ranging from an arms embargo to a convention against segregated sporting events; Whereas, in November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly, bearing in mind millennia of Jewish history, including the tragedy of the Holocaust, recognized the right of the Jewish people to establish an independent state in their ancient homeland; Whereas the United Nations has provided a forum for the achievement of international cooperation in solving international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian problems, including addressing such challenges as climate change, combating trafficking in humans, and promoting cooperation to defeat global terrorism; Whereas, in 1980, the United Nations and the World Health Organization reached an extraordinary milestone when they declared the world free of smallpox, following a 13-year eradication effort; Whereas the United Nations continues to implement programs for the universal immunization of polio, tetanus, measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and tuberculosis; Whereas, within 48 hours of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004, the United Nations and its agencies, including the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, and the United Nations Development Programme, began allocating emergency aid distribution to the various countries impacted by the earthquake and tsunami; Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has launched a multi-year campaign to intensify action to end violence against women and girls that aims to mobilize public opinion to ensure that policy makers at the highest levels work to prevent and eradicate violence against women; Whereas the United Nations has contributed to the peace and security of the international community through diplomatic efforts and actions approved by the Security Council; Whereas the image of the United Nations has been injured by the Oil-for-Food Program, the election of egregious human rights violators to the United Nations Human Rights Council, and allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse among United Nations Peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere; Whereas, despite the central role that the United Nations and its agencies have played in addressing global issues of human rights, hunger, health, the environment, and the needs of children over the past 63 years, the world body must commit to serious structural reforms in order to effectively carry out its mandate into the next century; Whereas the United Nations has already undergone significant reforms in recent years, including the creation of a United Nations Democracy Fund, the establishment of a United Nations Ethics Office, imposition of common policy on whistle blower protection, institution of a new financial disclosure policy, and a strengthening of the commitment to internal oversight, including the creation of a Procurement Task Force; Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s continuing commitment to institute necessary reforms to improve the effectiveness of the United Nations should be applauded and supported; and Whereas United States participation and leadership in the United Nations reform process is essential to securing American interests in international peace and security: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)recognizes the 63rd anniversary of the United Nations; (2)urges the President to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe the 63rd anniversary of the United Nations with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and (3)urges the President to exert United States leadership to ensure that substantive United Nations reforms underway are fully implemented and that further reforms are adopted in order for the United Nations to effectively carry out its mandate into the next century.