[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 21 (Wednesday, March 1, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1031-S1032]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 87--COMMENDING THE HOLY SEE FOR MAKING 
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND HUMAN RIGHTS, AND 
 OBJECTING TO EFFORTS TO EXPEL THE HOLY SEE FROM THE UNITED NATIONS BY 
    REMOVING THE HOLY SEE'S PERMANENT OBSERVER STATUS IN THE UNITED 
                    NATIONS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire (for himself, Mr. Santorum, Mr. Helms, Ms. 
Landrieu, Mr. Stevens, Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
Coverdell, and Mr. Brownback) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

                            S. Con. Res. 87

       Whereas the Holy See is the governing authority of the 
     sovereign State of Vatican City;
       Whereas the Holy See has an internationally recognized 
     legal personality, which allows it to enter into treaties as 
     the juridical equal of a state and to send and receive 
     diplomatic representatives;
       Whereas the diplomatic history of the Holy See began over 
     1,600 years ago, during the 4th century A.D., and the Holy 
     See currently has formal diplomatic relations with 169 
     nations, including the United States, and maintains 179 
     permanent diplomatic missions abroad;
       Whereas, although the Holy See was an active participant in 
     a wide range of United Nations activities since 1946, and was 
     eligible to become a member state of the United Nations, it 
     chose instead to become a nonmember state with Permanent 
     Observer status over 36 years ago, in 1964;
       Whereas, unlike other geographically small countries such 
     as Monaco, Nauru, San Marino, and Liechtenstein, the Holy See 
     does not possess a vote in the General Assembly of the United 
     Nations;
       Whereas, according to a July 1998 assessment by the United 
     States Department of State, ``(t)he United States values the 
     Holy See's significant contributions to international peace 
     and human rights'';
       Whereas during the past year, certain organizations that 
     oppose the views of the Holy See regarding abortion and the 
     sanctity of human life have initiated an organized effort to 
     pressure the United Nations to remove the Permanent Observer 
     status of the Holy See; and
       Whereas the removal of the Holy See's Permanent Observer 
     status would constitute an expulsion of the Holy See from the 
     United Nations as a state participant: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress
       (1) commends the Holy See for its unique contributions to a 
     thoughtful and robust dialogue in issues of international 
     concern during its 36 years as a Permanent Observer at the 
     United Nations;
       (2) strongly objects to any effort to expel the Holy See 
     from the United Nations as a state participant by removing 
     its status as a nonmember state Permanent Observer;
       (3) believes that any degradation of the status accorded to 
     the Holy See at the United Nations would seriously damage the 
     credibility of the United Nations by demonstrating that its 
     rules of participation are manipulable for ideological 
     reasons rather than being rooted in neutral principles and 
     objective facts of sovereignty; and
       (4) contends that any degradation of the status of the Holy 
     See will damage relations between the United States and the 
     United Nations.

  Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire. Mr. President, I rise for the purpose of 
submitting a Senate concurrent resolution objecting to any efforts to 
expel or degrade the Holy See's current status as a nonmember permanent 
observer to the United Nations. It is hard to believe there are people 
in the world--indeed, in our own country--who wish to take away that 
status.
  Throughout my tenure in the Senate and the House, I have worked to 
uphold the sovereignty of the United States, perhaps as much as anyone 
in the body. Recently, it has come to my attention that the sovereignty 
of the Holy See, the institution that represents the State of the 
Vatican City internationally, is being attacked by up to 400 
nongovernmental organizations in a movement called ``See Change.'' That 
is S-e-e.
  See Change is comprised of extremist groups, pro-choice groups, some 
extreme environmental organizations, and antireligious, atheist groups 
who want to take away this permanent status of the Holy See.
  Specifically, the agenda of See Change is to pressure U.N. Secretary 
General Annan into revoking the Holy See's nonmember Permanent Observer 
status by attacking its status as the legal and diplomatic body that 
represents the sovereign country of the State of the Vatican City.
  What an outrage. See Change believes it can use the smokescreen of 
the Holy See's unique sovereignty to silence its undisputed legal 
rights as a sovereign entity to voice its views on the sanctity of 
human life at the U.N. That is what this is about. It is about an 
attack on the sanctity of human life. It is an attack on the Pope for 
his views on the sanctity of human life.
  Since the U.N. rules by the consensus of all members, See Change is 
attempting to pressure and intimidate the Holy See, the Secretary 
General, and other member countries of the U.N. to silence any 
opposition to what really is a pro-abortion agenda.
  Currently, the Holy See is recognized by almost every nation in the 
world. Furthermore, the Holy See has sent and received diplomats since 
the 4th century and has possessed a permanent diplomatic mission since 
the 15th century.
  As I stated before, a central argument that these nongovernmental 
organizations use is the issue of the Holy See's legally recognized 
authority to represent the citizens of Vatican City and the worldwide 
Catholic Church.
  According to international law, sovereignty in its simplest form can 
be defined by a people, territorial entity, and a government with 
institutions that are recognized by the international community of 
nations. Without any doubt--since the 4th century--the Holy See acts as 
the legal and internationally recognized body that represents the 
people of Vatican City and Catholics around the world. The Holy See 
meets all those criteria. The Vatican State has a population of 
approximately 900 citizens, has a defined territory, and has 
institutions of government.
  The sovereignty issue was irrefutably settled in 1929, when the Holy 
See and Italy signed and ratified the Lateran Treaty, which brought the 
Vatican City State into existence. Article 12 of this treaty states:

       Diplomatic relations with the Holy See are governed by the 
     rules of International Law.

  All states have equal standing under international law. I believe the 
Senate needs to send a strong, positive message to reaffirm the concept 
of state sovereignty. If we cannot do that in this body, then I do not 
know what we can do. I would like to remind Secretary General Kofi 
Annan about his duty to uphold the principle the United Nations 
considers most important in its charter--the legal equality of nations, 
which is Article 2(1).
  Furthermore, this legal principle says all states are not similar in 
their

[[Page S1032]]

characteristics. For example, China contains about one-quarter of the 
human race while the State of the Vatican City contains a little fewer 
than 1,000 citizens.
  Moreover, this Nation, the United States, is exponentially larger in 
physical size and political stature than, say, Bangladesh; however, 
both nations have equal status under international law.
  Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for a Free Choice, said the 
Holy See sitting at the U.N. was like ``Euro-Disney sitting on the 
Security Council.'' Can you imagine? Surely, any person, American or 
not, would recoil at the irreverence of this statement and the 
ignorance, frankly, of the invaluable work the Holy See has undertaken 
to foster peace between fellow nations.
  Highly respected U.N. leaders, such as Dag Hammarskjold, have, in 
fact, recognized the unique sovereign status of the State of the 
Vatican City and insisted on the presence of the Holy See at the U.N. 
In addition, U.N. Secretary General U Thant attempted to establish an 
increased stability of relations between the Holy See and the U.N.
  Catholics for a Free Choice--I use that term loosely--a leading 
organization in the movement to remove the Holy See from the U.N., has 
set forth the following statement in their own web site:

       What place does a religious body--claiming to possess the 
     universal ``objective truth'' and speak infallibly on moral 
     matters--have in an intergovernmental institution like the 
     United Nations?

  I would like to point out that above the doors of the U.S. House 
Chamber are the reliefs of great lawmakers who had a profound impact on 
the moral and legal origins of this Nation. The most important lawmaker 
is Moses; his relief is placed higher, in the center of the Chamber, 
facing the Chair.
  Why didn't anyone question the sovereignty of the Soviet Union and 
its Politburo, with the Communist ideology that it espoused, and the 
manner in which it imposed its will upon the satellite states of 
Eastern Europe under its control? I did not hear any criticism of them.
  Should theocracies, such as Iran or even Israel, be threatened in the 
same manner if some extremist organization, opposed to their religious 
and social views, came forth?
  The elected head of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II, has 
recently made trips to Cuba and Angola, where he was received by 
multitudes, millions of people, supporting his message of peace, the 
rule of law, and freedom represented by the Catholic Church and, 
indeed, by many other citizens, as well.
  I am proud to say, in submitting this resolution, that as original 
cosponsors I have Senators Coverdell, Santorum, Landrieu, Helms, 
Ashcroft, Inhofe, McCain, Stevens, and Brownback. A bipartisan group 
has become original cosponsors. I urge my colleagues, in the name of 
what is right, to join with us in sponsoring this legislation.

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