[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 18, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15082-S15083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 82--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF RALPH 
  BUNCHE AS ONE OF THE GREAT LEADERS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE FIRST 
 AFRICAN-AMERICAN NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, AN ACCOMPLISHED SCHOLAR, A 
 DISTINGUISHED DIPLOMAT, AND A TIRELESS CAMPAIGNER OF CIVIL RIGHTS FOR 
                      PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

  Mr. BIDEN submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on the Judiciary:

                            S. Con. Res. 82

       Whereas Ralph Bunche's life of achievement made him one of 
     the 20th century's foremost figures and a role model for 
     youth;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche graduated valedictorian, summa cum 
     laude, and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California 
     at Los Angeles in 1927 with a degree in International 
     Relations;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche was the first African-American to 
     receive a Ph.D. in Government and International Relations at 
     Harvard University in 1934;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche served as a professor and established 
     and chaired the Political Science Department at Howard 
     University from 1928 to 1941;
       Whereas, in 1941, Ralph Bunche served as an analyst for the 
     Office of Strategic Services;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche joined the Department of State in 1944 
     as an advisor;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche served as an advisor to the United 
     States delegation to the 1945 San Francisco conference 
     charged with establishing the United Nations and drafting the 
     Charter of the organization;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche was instrumental in drafting Chapters 
     XI and XII of the United Nations Charter, dealing with non-
     self-governing territories and the International Trusteeship 
     System, which helped African countries achieve their 
     independence and assisted in their transition to self-
     governing, sovereign states;
       Whereas, in 1946, Ralph Bunche was appointed Director of 
     the Trusteeship Division of the United Nations;
       Whereas, in 1948, Ralph Bunche was named acting Chief 
     Mediator in Palestine for the United Nations, and, in 1949, 
     successfully brokered an armistice agreement between Israel, 
     Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche was deeply committed to ending 
     colonialism and restoring individual state sovereignty 
     through peaceful means;
       Whereas the National Association for the Advancement of 
     Colored People awarded its highest honor, the Spingarn Medal, 
     to Ralph Bunche in 1949;
       Whereas for his many significant contributions and efforts 
     toward achieving a peaceful resolution to seemingly 
     intractable national and international disputes, Ralph Bunche 
     was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950, the first African-
     American and the first person of color to be so honored;
       Whereas Ralph Bunche was named United Nations Under-
     Secretary-General in 1955, in charge of directing 
     peacekeeping missions in several countries;
       Whereas, in 1963, Ralph Bunche received the United States' 
     highest civilian award, the Medal of Freedom; and
       Whereas Ralph Bunche's critical contributions to the 
     attempt to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and towards the 
     de-colonization of Africa, and his commitment to and long 
     service in the United Nations and numerous other national and 
     international humanitarian efforts, warrant his 
     commemoration: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes and honors Ralph Bunche as a pivotal 20th 
     century figure in the struggle for the realization and 
     attainment of human rights on a global scale; and
       (2) urges the President to take appropriate measures to 
     encourage the celebration and remembrance of Ralph Bunche's 
     many significant achievements.

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today in recognition of the 
centenary celebration of Ralph Bunche's birth
  Ralph Bunche was an extraordinary man whose success was a definitive 
accomplishment in the history of America.
  His grandmother was born into slavery.
  His father was a barber in a shop for whites only.
  His mother was a musician.
  When his mother and father died his grandmother took him to 
California where her influence and the perspective she gave him on life 
and liberty shaped his future and, to some extent, the history of the 
Nation.
  He was a brilliant man, a musician, debater, athlete, a summa cum 
laude student and valedictorian. A loving husband to Ruth and father of 
Joan, Jane and Ralph Jr.
  He went to Harvard, taught at Howard University and earned his 
doctorate comparing French rule in Togoland and Dahomey.
  And when the civil rights movement came he spoke out loudly and his 
message was clear: ``Segregation and democracy are incompatible,'' he 
said. ``Racial prejudice is an unreasoned phenomenon without scientific 
basis in biology or anthropology.''
  But Ralph Bunche did not want to be remembered for his race. He 
wanted to be remembered for his accomplishments and his competence, for 
his dedication to service and his commitment to the recognition of the 
fundamental rights of men and women to live in harmony and peace.
  He came from a generation of Americans who believed that it was wrong 
to recognize a man for the color of his skin, that we should, instead, 
recognize men and women for the power of their ideas and the 
contribution they make to the community.

[[Page S15083]]

  Ralph Bunche did not want to be remembered as the first African 
American who was the first to graduate from University of California at 
Los Angeles as valedictorian or the first to graduate from Harvard with 
a Ph.D. in government and international relations, or the first to 
become Chief U.N. Mediator.
  Least of all, the first to win the Nobel Peace Prize. He wished to be 
remembered simply as an American who answered his country's call of 
duty.
  That is not a shortcoming . . . It is not a slight to any man or 
woman of color in our society . . . it is, however, a statement of 
hope, the hope I grew up with, that we can one day be a society that 
judges us not for our differences but for our accomplishments and the 
fact that we, as human beings, made a difference.
  Ralph Bunche was one of those human beings who made a difference and 
left an extraordinary legacy.
  By tailoring the language in the 11th and 12th Chapters of the U.N. 
Charter, Bunche made it possible for the United Nations to recognize 
the peaceful self-determination of those being exploited by 
colonialism, and through sheer force of will he recovered from an 
assassination attempt which killed 4 of his colleagues to negotiate an 
armistice agreement ending the first Arab-Israeli war.
  With an eye for the future he presided over the conference which 
finalized the statues for the International Atomic Energy Agency.
  And in response to an international crisis he established the 
foundations for the first international peacekeeping operation in 
Egypt.
  This legacy is manifest in his dedication to the United Nations, and 
to the cause of peace for which we will always remember him.
  His words were perhaps prophetic when he said: ``If today we speak of 
peace, we also speak of the United Nations, for in this era peace and 
the United Nations, have become inseparable. If the United Nations 
cannot ensure peace there will be none.
  ``If war should come it will be only because the United Nations has 
failed.
  ``But the United Nations need not fail.
  ``Surely every man of reason must work and pray to the end that it 
will not fail.''
  Those are not popular words today but they are truthful words, a 
heartfelt notion from a man whose life and work centered on a way to 
bring people--all people--together to solve problems.
  In concluding his Nobel Lecture, he said: ``There will be no security 
in our world, no release from agonizing tension, no genuine progress, 
no enduring peace, until, in Shelley's fine words, reasons voice, loud 
as the voice of nature, shall have waked the nations.' ''
  Today we honor this visionary man of peace as an accomplished 
scholar, a distinguished diplomat, a tireless campaigner for the civil 
rights of all people in every nation, and as one of the 20th centuries 
foremost figures and a role model for every young man and woman, black 
or white, Christian, Muslim, or Jew.
  I ask all my colleagues to join with me in recognizing the life and 
work of Ralph Bunche by passing this resolution.

                          ____________________