[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1078 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1078
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a Global
Marshall Plan holds the potential to demonstrate the commitment of the
United States to peace and prosperity.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 3, 2008
Mr. Ellison (for himself, Mr. Moran of Virginia, and Mr. Cleaver)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a Global
Marshall Plan holds the potential to demonstrate the commitment of the
United States to peace and prosperity.
Whereas, after World War II, the United States established a program to provide
for the reconstruction of Europe, named after General George C. Marshall
and commonly referred to as the ``Marshall Plan'', which has been hailed
by leaders of World War II allied and enemy countries as the most
magnanimous act by the United States in history;
Whereas by providing assistance to Europe through the Marshall Plan, the United
States recognized the direct link between economic growth and political
stability, thereby investing resources into economic development and
assistance;
Whereas the Marshall Plan made possible new measures of international
cooperation through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other
institutions that have enhanced the security, freedom, and prosperity of
the United States and the world;
Whereas the United States has established foreign assistance programs, as
described in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, with a goal of the
``encouragement and sustained support of the people of developing
countries in their efforts to acquire the knowledge and resources
essential to development and to build the economic, political, and
social institutions which will improve the quality of their lives'';
Whereas annual United States appropriations for foreign development assistance
in its many forms, whether considered as a proportion of the Federal
budget or as a proportion of gross domestic product, never again have
reached the levels seen during the first years of the Marshall Plan;
Whereas more than 1,000,000,000 people worldwide live on less than $1 per day,
and another 1,600,000,000 people struggle to survive on less than $2 per
day, according to the World Bank;
Whereas at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, the United States
joined more than 180 other countries in committing to work toward the
United Nations Millennium Development Goals to improve life for the
world's poorest people by 2015;
Whereas the United Nations Millennium Development Goals include the goal of
reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990
and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day, cutting in half the
proportion of people suffering from hunger and unable to access safe
drinking water and sanitation, reducing by two-thirds child mortality,
ensuring basic education for all children, and reversing the spread of
HIV/AIDS and malaria, while sustaining the environment upon which human
life depends;
Whereas United States citizens and nongovernmental organizations have proposed a
new Global Marshall Plan, including--
(1) providing enough funding to eliminate global poverty, homelessness,
hunger, inadequate education, and health care, plus restoring the global
environment;
(2) creating international nongovernmental mechanisms for receiving
funds contributed through foreign aid and alternative sources of financing,
and for distributing such funds in a way that is environmentally sensitive,
respectful of native cultures, safeguarded against corruption, protected
from manipulation to serve elite interests, and empowering of the people in
each region;
(3) revising existing trade and other agreements in which the United
States is currently involved so that such agreements favor improving the
lives of the poor of the world; and approaching future agreements with like
intent;
(4) creating a greatly expanded Peace and Justice Corps of the United
States that would provide ways for people with useful skills to volunteer
two years at any age toward the goals of the Global Marshall Plan;
(5) providing training to foreign militaries to become experts in
ecologically sensitive construction of those aspects of their own societies
that need relief and reconstruction, including agriculture, health care,
housing, infrastructure, education, computers, and other appropriate
technology; and
(6) providing training to children and adults worldwide in techniques
of nonviolent communication, diversity, environmental sustainability,
family and parental support, stress reduction, emergency health techniques,
diet and exercise, and caring for others who are in need of help; and
Whereas the attacks against the United States that occurred on September 11,
2001, and the subsequent global war on terrorism, have enhanced United
States strategic concern for the economic and political future of
countries worldwide: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the United States House of
Representatives that--
(1) the elimination of poverty and hunger, assurance of
basic health and education for all, and resolution of
environmental crises remain key foreign policy goals for the
United States;
(2) a Global Marshall Plan holds potentially transformative
power of a reinvigorated, comprehensive approach to foreign
development assistance that would demonstrate the commitment of
the United States to peace and prosperity to people who may
have doubted the dedication of the United States to those
ideals; and
(3) a Global Marshall Plan must operate within the ethical
framework of generosity and magnanimity, not merely of
instrumentality, and to be successful and must be perceived as
more than a new attempt to extend influence into the world.
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