[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 71 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 71
Recognizing the United States national interest in helping to prevent
and mitigate acts of genocide and other mass atrocities against
civilians, and supporting and encouraging efforts to develop a whole of
government approach to prevent and mitigate such acts.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 5, 2010
Mr. Feingold (for himself and Ms. Collins) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Recognizing the United States national interest in helping to prevent
and mitigate acts of genocide and other mass atrocities against
civilians, and supporting and encouraging efforts to develop a whole of
government approach to prevent and mitigate such acts.
Whereas, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, the international community vowed
``never again'' to allow systematic killings on the basis of
nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion;
Whereas a number of other genocides and mass atrocities have occurred, both
prior to and since that time;
Whereas the United States Government has undertaken many initiatives to ensure
that victims of genocide and mass atrocities are not forgotten, and as a
leader in the international community, the United States has committed
to work with international partners to prevent genocide and mass
atrocities and to help protect civilian populations at risk of such;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948, which
declares genocide, whether committed in a time of peace or in a time of
war, a crime under international law, and declares that the parties to
the Convention will undertake to prevent and to punish that crime;
Whereas the United States was the first nation to sign the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the Senate voted
to ratify the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide on February 11, 1986;
Whereas the Act entitled, ``An Act to establish the United States Holocaust
Memorial Council'', approved October 7, 1980 (Public Law 96-388),
established the United States Holocaust Memorial Council to commemorate
the Holocaust, establish a memorial museum to the victims, and develop a
committee to stimulate worldwide action to prevent or stop future
genocides;
Whereas the passage of the Genocide Convention Implementation Act of 1987
(Public Law 100-606), also known as the Proxmire Act, made genocide a
crime under United States law;
Whereas, in response to lessons learned from Rwanda and Bosnia, President
William J. Clinton established a genocide and mass atrocities early
warning system by establishing an Atrocities Prevention Interagency
Working Group, chaired by an Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues
from 1998 to 2000;
Whereas, in 2005, the United States and all other members of the United Nations
agreed that the international community has ``a responsibility to use
appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means, in
accordance with Chapter VI and VIII of the United Nations Charter, to
help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and
crimes against humanity,'' and to take direct action if national
authorities are unwilling or unable to protect their populations;
Whereas the 2006 National Security Strategy of the United States stated, ``The
world needs to start honoring a principle that many believe has lost its
force in parts of the international community in recent years: genocide
must not be tolerated. It is a moral imperative that states take action
to prevent and punish genocide. . . . We must refine United States
Government efforts--economic, diplomatic, and law-enforcement--so that
they target those individuals responsible for genocide and not the
innocent citizens they rule.'';
Whereas the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the American Academy of
Diplomacy, and the United States Institute of Peace convened a Genocide
Prevention Task Force, co-chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright and former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, to explore how
the United States Government could better respond to threats of genocide
and mass atrocities;
Whereas the final report of the Genocide Prevention Task Force, released in
December 2008, concluded that the lack of an overarching policy
framework or a standing interagency process, as well as insufficient and
uncoordinated institutional capacities, undermines the ability of the
United States Government to help prevent genocide or mass killings and
offered recommendations for creating a government wide strategy;
Whereas the former Director of National Intelligence, in his annual threat
assessment to Congress in February 2010, highlighted countries at risk
of genocide and mass atrocities and stated, ``Within the past 3 years,
the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan all suffered mass killing
episodes through violence starvation, or death in prison camps . . .
Looking ahead over the next 5 years, a number of countries in Africa and
Asia are at significant risk for a new outbreak of mass killing.'';
Whereas the Quadrennial Defense Review, released in February 2010, states that
the Defense Department should be prepared to provide the President with
options for ``preventing human suffering due to mass atrocities or
large-scale natural disasters abroad'';
Whereas the 2010 National Security Strategy notes, ``The United States is
committed to working with our allies, and to strengthening our own
internal capabilities, in order to ensure that the United States and the
international community are proactively engaged in a strategic effort to
prevent mass atrocities and genocide. In the event that prevention
fails, the United States will work both multilaterally and bilaterally
to mobilize diplomatic, humanitarian, financial, and--in certain
instances--military means to prevent and respond to genocide and mass
atrocities.'';
Whereas genocide and mass atrocities often result from and contribute to
instability and conflict, which can cross borders and exacerbate threats
to international security and the national security of the United
States;
Whereas the failure to prevent genocide and mass atrocities can lead to
significant costs resulting from regional instability, refugee flows,
peacekeeping, economic loss, and the challenges of post-conflict
reconstruction and reconciliation; and
Whereas United States leadership and actions toward preventing and mitigating
future genocides and mass atrocities can save human lives and help
foster beneficial global partnerships: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
That the Senate--
(1) recommits to honor the memory of the victims of the
Holocaust as well as the victims of all past genocides and mass
atrocities;
(2) affirms that it is in the national interest and aligned
with the values of the United States to work vigorously with
international partners to prevent and mitigate future genocides
and mass atrocities;
(3) supports efforts made thus far by the President, the
Secretary of State, the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Defense,
and the Director of National Intelligence to improve the
capacity of the United States Government to anticipate,
prevent, and address genocide and mass atrocities, including
the establishment of an interagency policy committee and a
National Security Council position dedicated to the prevention
of genocide and other mass atrocities;
(4) urges the President--
(A) to direct relevant departments and agencies of
the United States Government to review and evaluate
existing capacities for anticipating, preventing, and
responding to genocide and other mass atrocities, and
to determine specific steps to coordinate and enhance
those capacities; and
(B) to develop and communicate a whole of
government approach and policy to anticipate, prevent,
and mitigate acts of genocide and other mass
atrocities;
(5) urges the Secretary of State, working closely with the
Administrator of the United States Agency for International
Development--
(A) to ensure that all relevant officers of the
Foreign Service and particularly those deploying to
areas undergoing significant conflict or considered to
be at risk of significant conflict, genocide, and other
mass atrocities receive appropriate advanced training
in early warning and conflict prevention, mitigation,
and resolution;
(B) to determine appropriate leadership, structure,
programs, and mechanisms within the Department of State
and the United States Agency for International
Development that can enhance efforts to prevent
genocide and other mass atrocities; and
(C) to include relevant recommendations for
enhancing civilian capacities to help prevent and
mitigate genocide and mass atrocities in the upcoming
Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review;
(6) urges the Secretary of the Treasury, working in
consultation with the Secretary of State, to review how
sanctions and other financial tools could be used against state
and commercial actors found to be directly supporting or
enabling genocides and mass atrocities;
(7) recognizes the importance of flexible contingency
crisis funding to enable United States civilian agencies to
respond quickly to help prevent and mitigate crises that could
lead to significant armed conflict, genocide, and other mass
atrocities;
(8) urges the Secretary of Defense to conduct an analysis
of the doctrine, organization, training, material, leadership,
personnel, and facilities required to prevent and respond to
genocide and mass atrocities;
(9) encourages the Secretary of State and Secretary of
Defense to work with the relevant congressional committees to
ensure that a priority goal of all United States security
assistance and training is to support legitimate, accountable
security forces committed to upholding the sovereign
responsibility to protect civilian populations from violence,
especially genocide and other mass atrocities;
(10) supports efforts by the United States Government to
provide logistical, communications, and intelligence support,
as appropriate, to assist multilateral diplomatic efforts and
peace operations in preventing mass atrocities and protecting
civilians;
(11) calls on other members of the international community
to increase their support for multilateral diplomatic efforts
and peace operations to more effectively prevent mass
atrocities and protect civilians;
(12) encourages the Secretary of State to work closely with
regional and international organizations, the United Nations
Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, and civil
society experts to develop and expand multilateral mechanisms
for early warning, information sharing, and rapid response
diplomacy for the prevention of genocide and other mass
atrocities; and
(13) commits to calling attention to areas at risk of
genocide and other mass atrocities and ensuring that the United
States Government has the tools and resources to enable its
efforts to prevent genocide and mass atrocities.
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