[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 278 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 278

 Recognizing the paramount need to address the threat of international 
 terrorism and protect the international security of the United States 
  by reducing the number of and accessibility to nuclear weapons and 
    preventing their proliferation, and directing a portion of the 
    resulting savings towards child survival, hunger, and universal 
education, and calling on the President to take action to achieve these 
                                 goals.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 24, 2009

  Mr. McGovern (for himself and Mr. Daniel E. Lungren of California) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the paramount need to address the threat of international 
 terrorism and protect the international security of the United States 
  by reducing the number of and accessibility to nuclear weapons and 
    preventing their proliferation, and directing a portion of the 
    resulting savings towards child survival, hunger, and universal 
education, and calling on the President to take action to achieve these 
                                 goals.

Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation have in the past entered 
        into arms control treaties providing for reductions of several thousand 
        nuclear delivery systems, including the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty 
        of 1991 (START I), the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 
        (INF), and the Treaty of Moscow of 2002;
Whereas both countries still will retain several thousand nuclear weapons, their 
        delivery systems, and supporting infrastructure at an annual cost of 
        many billions of dollars;
Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation now face different threats 
        to their security since the end of the Cold War, notably that of 
        international terrorism;
Whereas international terrorism, particularly the danger posed by a terrorist 
        entity acquiring a nuclear explosive device, requires that the countries 
        redouble efforts to prevent the proliferation of such devices and the 
        technology to produce them;
Whereas since 1992, the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program of assistance 
        to the Russian Federation and certain other states of the former Soviet 
        Union, initiated under the leadership of Senators Sam Nunn and Richard 
        Lugar, has proven an effective and necessary tool to combat the 
        proliferation of weapons of mass destruction at a cost far below that of 
        maintaining such weapons;
Whereas additional reductions in nuclear armaments of both the United States and 
        the Russian Federation, together with other nuclear powers, will--

    (1) meet the objective of the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons 
as prescribed in article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of 
Nuclear Weapons and the vision of a nuclear-weapon-free world of Presidents 
Reagan and Gorbachev at the Reykjavik Summit of 1986;

    (2) reduce the number of nuclear weapons subject to diversion or theft 
by terrorist groups; and

    (3) eventually make available additional funds in the range of tens of 
billions of dollars to further enhance international security by reducing 
world poverty, thereby addressing one of the factors contributing to 
international terrorism;

Whereas the United States and the Russian Federation, committed by international 
        agreement as well as joint commitments by their respective Presidents, 
        will reduce nuclear armaments in coming years and will encourage other 
        countries to do likewise;
Whereas the Task Force on Department of Energy Nonproliferation Programs with 
        Russia, commonly known as the Baker-Cutler Task Force, recommended in 
        its final report of January 10, 2001, significant increases in the 
        amounts of funding devoted to securing nuclear arsenals and other 
        weapons of mass destruction;
Whereas the savings generated in the long term by significant reduction of 
        nuclear armaments will be appreciable, with estimates as high as 
        $13,000,000,000 annually, even in the face of the real costs of 
        eliminating a large portion of the nuclear arsenals of both the Russian 
        Federation and the United States;
Whereas on March 22, 2002, President George W. Bush stated that ``We fight 
        against poverty because hope is an answer to terror. We fight against 
        poverty because opportunity is a fundamental right to human dignity. We 
        fight against poverty because faith requires it and conscience demands 
        it. We fight against poverty with a growing conviction that major 
        progress is within our reach.'';
Whereas the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States of America 
        noted that ``a world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half 
        of the human race lives on less than $2 per day, is neither just nor 
        stable. Including all of the world's poor in an expanding circle of 
        development--and opportunity--is a moral imperative and one of the top 
        priorities of U.S. international policy'';
Whereas the final report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon 
        the United States (more commonly known as the 9/11 Commission Report), 
        issued on July 22, 2004, recommended that a comprehensive U.S. strategy 
        to counter terrorism should include policies that encourage development, 
        more open societies, and opportunities that improve the lives of 
        families and enhance prospects for their children's futures;
Whereas President Barack Obama has called for substantial verifiable reductions 
        in the nuclear arsenals of the United States and the Russian Federation;
Whereas addressing the needs of the very poor in the world, particularly 
        children, reduces a source of international tension and local despair 
        that contribute to terrorist initiatives;
Whereas despite significant progress worldwide in reducing child mortality rates 
        over time, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 
        9,200,000 children under the age of 5 die every year, mostly from 
        preventable and treatable causes;
Whereas investing in the health and nutrition of children and their mothers is a 
        sound economic decision and one of the surest ways for a country to set 
        its course toward a better future;
Whereas international health experts estimate that an additional $5,000,000,000 
        each year in global assistance for proven child survival interventions 
        could save the lives of 6,000,000 young children each year;
Whereas in sub-Saharan Africa, UNICEF and other organizations estimate that 
        scaling up a minimum package of existing interventions delivered through 
        effective, community-based health services could cut the region's child 
        mortality rate by 30 percent, and the maternal mortality rate by 15 
        percent, at an estimated annual cost of $1,000 for each life saved;
Whereas the United States supports child survival programs to meet the needs of 
        children in poor countries through its contributions to international 
        organizations and support for bilateral and multilateral programs;
Whereas according to the United Nations World Food Programme, more than 
        300,000,000 children suffer from chronic hunger, and an estimated 
        121,000,000 of these children, two-thirds of whom are girls, do not 
        attend school;
Whereas providing nutritious meals in schools has proven to be one of the most 
        effective strategies to increase school attendance and enrollment, 
        particularly among girls, decrease the incidence of hunger and 
        malnutrition in school-age children, and help create literate, self-
        sustaining, and healthy societies;
Whereas the United States supports programs to address chronic hunger and 
        malnutrition and promote universal education among adolescent and 
        school-age children;
Whereas the World Food Programme and the Food and Agricultural Organization of 
        the United Nations estimate that an additional $5,000,000,000 annually 
        in global assistance for school feeding and other food supports could 
        eliminate hunger and malnutrition among the world's school-age children;
Whereas Americans consistently rank child survival and ending hunger in poor 
        countries as a top priority of United States foreign assistance; and
Whereas President Barack Obama has committed the United States to new leadership 
        in the international campaign to reduce by half global hunger and 
        poverty by 2015: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This resolution may be cited as the ``Global Security Priorities 
Resolution''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE.

    It is the sense of the House of Representatives that--
            (1) the President should continue both negotiations with 
        other countries and unilateral initiatives to achieve further 
        reductions in nuclear arms to minimum levels;
            (2) the President should agree to the verifiable reduction 
        of deployed nuclear weapons of both the United States and the 
        Russian Federation to equal levels of 1,000, and a total 
        nuclear inventory of not more than 3,000, by the year 2015;
            (3) the Cooperative Threat Reduction (Nunn-Lugar) Program 
        should be enhanced and extended to third countries who request 
        it as a truly cooperative, equally funded program between the 
        United States and the Russian Federation to assist in the 
        reduction and elimination of nuclear weapons throughout the 
        world and to establish an environment of assurance that nuclear 
        explosive material will not and cannot be diverted into the 
        hands of terrorists; and
            (4) the funds saved through nuclear arms reductions should 
        be used for cooperative threat reduction and to alleviate those 
        problems in the world affecting children and families that can 
        contribute to the support for international terrorism, 
        including--
                    (A) as a first priority, allocating funds annually 
                to extend the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program 
                (Nunn-Lugar) at a rate of at least an additional 
                $1,000,000,000 per year, and increased as warranted, to 
                dismantle remaining weapons, establish verifiable 
                safeguards, and improve accounting and physical 
                security;
                    (B) increasing United States contributions to such 
                programs as the Global Partnership Against the Spread 
                of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction and the 
                Global Threat Reduction Initiative by an additional 
                $2,500,000,000 annually over a period of 5 years, if 
                and when it can be demonstrated that these programs can 
                usefully absorb these funds;
                    (C) in addition to funds already available for such 
                purposes, providing an additional $5,000,000,000 over a 
                period of 5 years to enhance child survival in the 
                world's most needy countries, by scaling up 
                implementation of integrated packages of high-impact 
                and low-cost health and nutrition interventions at the 
                community level; and
                    (D) in addition to funds already available for such 
                purposes, providing an additional $1,500,000,000 
                annually over a period of 5 years for programs under 
                title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and 
                Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480 (Food for 
                Peace)) and the George McGovern-Robert Dole 
                International Food for Education and Child Nutrition 
                Program, specifically for programs targeted at reducing 
                the incidence of child hunger and increasing child 
                nutrition and educational opportunities.
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