[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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