[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.
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