110 HCON 430 IH: Expressing the sense of Congress that the U.S. House of Representatives 2008-09-25 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. 430 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 25, 2008 Mr. Hastings of Florida submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs CONCURRENT RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of Congress that the policy (popularly known as the Stimson Doctrine) of the United States of not recognizing territorial changes effected by force, should continue to be the guiding foreign policy of the United States in diplomatic discourse.

Whereas the former Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, declared in 1932 that the United States would not recognize territorial changes effected by force following the seizure of Manchuria by Japan; Whereas this doctrine of non-recognition became known as the Stimson Doctrine; Whereas the United States properly applied the doctrine of non-recognition in 1940 to the countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and every Presidential administration of the United States honored this doctrine until independence was restored to those countries in 1991; Whereas article 2, paragraph 4 of the Charter of the United Nations demonstrates a wider application of the Stimson Doctrine, stating that “All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.”; Whereas principle III of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 states that The participating States regard as inviolable all one another’s frontiers as well as the frontiers of all States in Europe and therefore they will refrain now and in the future from assaulting these frontiers.; Whereas principle IV of the Helsinki Final Act of 1975 states that The participating States will respect the territorial integrity of each of the participating States. Accordingly, they will refrain from any action inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations against the territorial integrity, political independence or the unity of any participating State, and in particular from any such action constituting a threat or use of force.; and Whereas the principles of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity in the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations serve to preserve political stability among countries while still protecting the legitimate aspirations of the peoples of the world: Now, therefore, be it

That Congress— (1)reaffirms the continued validity and appropriateness of the principles of inviolability of the borders and territorial integrity of countries as a vital instrument of the foreign policy of the United States (popularly known as the Stimson Doctrine); (2)calls upon the President to declare unequivocally that the United States does not, and will not, recognize territorial changes effected by force alone; (3)calls upon the countries of the world to strive to preserve the principles of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity as a means of preserving political stability among countries while still protecting the legitimate aspirations of the peoples of the world; (4)condemns the violation of the principle of territorial integrity that occurred during August and September of 2008, as a result of Russia’s armed incursion into the sovereign country of Georgia; and (5)urges Russia to withdraw its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries and to refrain from acts and policies that undermine the principle of inviolability of borders and territorial integrity.