[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 18, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15083-S15084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 83--PROMOTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A 
               DEMOCRACY CAUCUS WITHIN THE UNITED NATIONS

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

                            S. Con. Res. 83

       Whereas a survey conducted by Freedom House in 2003, 
     entitled ``Freedom in the World'', found that of the 192 
     governments of nations of the world, 121 (or 63 percent) of 
     such governments have an electoral democracy form of 
     government;
       Whereas, the Community of Democracies, an association of 
     democratic nations committed to promoting democratic 
     principles and practices, held its First Ministerial 
     Conference in Warsaw, Poland, in June 2000;
       Whereas, in a speech at that Conference, Kofi Annan, the 
     Secretary-General of the United Nations, stated that ``when 
     the United Nations can truly call itself a community of 
     democracies, the [United Nations] Charter's noble ideals of 
     protecting human rights and promoting `social progress in 
     larger freedoms' will have been brought much closer'', that 
     ``democratically governed states rarely if ever make war on 
     one another'', and that ``in this era of intra-state wars, is 
     the fact that democratic governance--by protecting 
     minorities, encouraging pluralism, and upholding the rule of 
     law--can channel internal dissent peacefully, and thus help 
     avert civil wars'';
       Whereas a report by an Independent Task Force cosponsored 
     by the Council on Foreign Relations and Freedom House in 
     2002, entitled ``Enhancing U.S. Leadership at the United 
     Nations'', concluded that ``the United States is frequently 
     outmaneuvered and outmatched at the [United Nations]'' 
     because the 115 members of the nonaligned movement 
     ``cooperate on substantive and procedural votes, binding the 
     organization's many democratic nations to the objectives and 
     blocking tactics of its remaining tyrannies'';
       Whereas, at the First Ministerial Conference of the 
     Community of Democracies, the representatives of the 
     participating governments agreed to ``collaborate on 
     democracy-related issues in existing international and 
     regional institutions, forming coalitions and caucuses to 
     support resolutions and other international activities aimed 
     at the promotion of democratic governance''; and
       Whereas that agreement was reaffirmed at the Second 
     Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in 
     Seoul, Korea, in November 2002: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring),

     SECTION 1. PROMOTION OF A DEMOCRACY CAUCUS WITHIN THE UNITED 
                   NATIONS.

       Congress urges the President to instruct any representative 
     of the United States to a body of the United Nations to use 
     the voice and vote of the United States to seek to establish 
     a democracy caucus within the United Nations as described in 
     this Resolution.

     SEC. 2. PURPOSE OF THE DEMOCRACY CAUCUS.

       The purpose of the democracy caucus referred to in section 
     1 should be to advance the interests of the United States and 
     other nations that are committed to promoting democratic 
     norms and practices by--
       (1) supporting common objectives, including bolstering 
     democracy and democratic principles, advancing human rights, 
     and fighting terrorism in accordance with the rule of law;
       (2) forging common positions on matters of concern that are 
     brought before the United Nations or any of the bodies of the 
     United Nations;
       (3) working within and across regional lines to promote the 
     positions of the democracy caucus;
       (4) encouraging democratic states to assume leadership 
     positions in the bodies of the United Nations; and
       (5) advocating that states that permit gross violations of 
     human rights, sponsor terrorist activities, or that are the 
     subject of sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security 
     Council are not elected--
       (A) to leadership positions in the United Nations General 
     Assembly; or
       (B) to membership or leadership positions in the Commission 
     on Human Rights, the Security Council, or any other body of 
     the United Nations.

     SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE DEMOCRACY CAUCUS.

       Participation in the democracy caucus referred to in 
     section 1 should be limited to countries that--
       (1) are qualified to participate in the Community of 
     Democracies, an association of democratic nations committed 
     to promoting democratic principles and practices; and
       (2) have demonstrated a commitment--
       (A) to the core democratic principles and practices set out 
     in the Final Warsaw Declaration of the Community of 
     Democracies, adopted at Warsaw June 27, 2000; and
       (B) to the democratic principles set forth in--
       (i) the United Nations Charter;
       (ii) the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and
       (iii) the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
     Rights.

     SEC. 4. ANNUAL MEETING.

       The members of the democracy caucus referred to in section 
     1 should hold a ministerial-level meeting at least once each 
     year to coordinate policies and positions of the caucus.

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I rise to support a United Nations 
Democracy Caucus to address questions that underlie a countless number 
of our foreign policy decisions, particularly in today's climate:
  How can the United States be more effective in advancing our foreign 
policy priorities?
  How can we be more active in collaborating with our allies on issues 
of common concern?
  How can we be more productive in promoting the values upon which this 
nation was founded and getting our message across to those around the 
world who look to us for leadership?
  Three years ago, in Warsaw, Poland, the United States took a step to 
address these questions when it became one of eight convening countries 
of the ``Community of Democracies,'' a network of representatives of 
over 100 nations that meets every 2 years to promote the advancement of 
global democracy and human rights.

[[Page S15084]]

  Two years later, in Seoul, Korea, many of these countries reaffirmed 
their commitment to collaborating with one another and agreed to work 
together in existing international and regional organizations.
  Hence, the idea of establishing a ``democracy caucus'' within the 
United Nations began to take form.
  The idea is simply this: democratic nations share common values, and 
should work together at the United Nations to promote those values.
  A simple notion that, in my view, makes extraordinary sense.
  What has happened in the last several years is that support for the 
establishment of a democracy caucus in the United Nations has begun to 
take root among foreign policy experts in the United States.
  Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has endorsed the idea, 
as has Jeane Kirkpatrick, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
  In addition, it has been endorsed by a broad-based coalition of 
organizations and advocacy groups like Freedom House, Human Rights 
Watch, the American Jewish Committee, the American Bar Association and 
the Council for Community of Democracies.
  In recent months, even senior Bush administration officials have 
expressed interest in the establishment of a democracy caucus--
recognizing that the United States would be more effective if we were 
to work together and organize with other like-minded countries.
  Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, Kim 
Holmes, recently deemed a U.N. democracy caucus as ``an idea whose time 
has arrived''.
  Working together with like-minded nations is a logical and practical 
way to conduct foreign policy. We build coalitions in the Senate. We 
build coalitions in Congress. And it makes sense to build coalitions in 
the United Nations, not only for the sake of forging common positions 
on issues of mutual concern, but also to provide a counterbalance to 
other coalitions that are well organized in the United Nations, but do 
not necessarily share our goals.
  The 115-member nonaligned movement (NAM) is an example. Last year, an 
Independent Task Force co-sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations 
and Freedom House argued that ``the United States is frequently 
outmaneuvered and outmatched at the UN'' because the cooperative work 
of the NAM ``binds the organization's many democratic nations to the 
objectives and blocking tactics of its remaining tyrannies.''
  A democracy caucus would give us a new and potentially effective tool 
within the United Nations to counter coalitions that act in a manner 
inimical to our interests.
  So today I am submitting a resolution promoting the establishment of 
a democracy caucus within the United Nations.
  The resolution is straightforward: it expresses the support of this 
Congress for a U.N. democracy caucus and outlines the vision that I, 
and others, have of what such a caucus would do, and how it would go 
about doing it.
  The general idea is that a democracy caucus would convene at the U.N. 
General Assembly, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, and other U.N. 
bodies on a regular basis.
  Members of the democracy caucus would work together to forge common 
positions to bolster democracy and democratic principles, advance human 
rights, and fight terrorism.
  Furthermore, this bill also talks about who will join a democracy 
caucus.
  We need to establish a criteria for which countries would be 
considered democracies, and which would not. Fortunately, we are not 
starting from scratch.
  The Community of Democracies forum has established such criteria by 
drawing on major principles of international law and international 
standards set forth in the U.N. Charter, the Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political 
Rights.
  Drawing up this criteria was a collaborative process during the First 
Ministerial of the community of Democracies, and the guidelines have 
been effective in laying the foundation and advancing the goals of the 
forum.
  Therefore, this legislation models the U.N. democracy caucus' 
eligibility criteria on that already established by and for the 
Community of Democracies.
  I envision that the U.N. democracy caucus would advocate that states 
that are deemed to be gross violators of human rights, sponsors of 
terrorist activities, or subjects of United Nations sanctions, not be 
elected to leadership positions in the United Nations General Assembly 
or other United Nations bodies.
  This issue has received, and deservedly so, much attention this 
year--particularly after Libya was elected to serve as chair of the 
Commission of Human Rights.
  In my view, the credibility of U.N. institutions is undermined when 
the members of its bodies--and particularly those in leadership 
positions--fall into this camp of bad actors.
  According to the Freedom House 2003 survey, of the world's 192 
governments, 63 percent of them have an electoral democracy form of 
government.
  Furthermore, in the 2002 meeting of the Community of Democracies in 
Seoul, 118 nations were invited to participate, based upon their 
commitment to shred democratic values.
  These numbers tell us that a democracy caucus within the U.N. would 
have a strong base from which to begin its work; it could be robust 
from its inauguration.
  At the First Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies 
in Warsaw, Poland, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said, ``When the 
United Nations can truly call itself a community of democracies, the 
charter's noble ideals of protecting human rights and promoting `social 
progress in larger freedoms' will have been brought much closer.''
  In that spirit, I submit a resolution in support of the establishment 
of a U.N. democracy caucus.

                          ____________________