[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 88 (Wednesday, June 23, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H4785-H4789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP ACT OF 2004

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 4053) to improve the workings of international 
organizations and multilateral institutions, and for other purposes.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 4053

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``United States International 
     Leadership Act of 2004''.

            TITLE I--UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP

     SEC. 101. FINDINGS.

       The Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) Decisions at many international organizations and other 
     multilateral institutions, including membership and key 
     positions, remain subject to determinations made by regional 
     groups where democratic states are often in the minority and 
     where there is intensive cooperation among repressive 
     regimes. As a result, the United States has often been 
     blocked in its attempts to take action in these institutions 
     to advance its goals and objectives, including at the United 
     Nations Human Rights Commission (where a representative of 
     Libya was elected as chairman and the United States 
     temporarily lost a seat).
       (2) In order to address these shortcomings, the United 
     States must actively work to improve the workings of 
     international organizations and multilateral institutions, 
     particularly by creating a caucus of democratic countries 
     that will advance United States interests. In the second 
     Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in 
     Seoul, Korea, on November 10-20, 2002, numerous countries 
     recommended working together as a democracy caucus in 
     international organizations such as the United Nations and 
     ensuring that international and regional institutions develop 
     and apply democratic standards for member states.

     SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF A DEMOCRACY CAUCUS.

       (a) In General.--The President of the United States, acting 
     through the Secretary of State and the relevant United States 
     chiefs of mission, shall seek to establish a democracy caucus 
     at the United Nations, the United Nations Human Rights 
     Commission, the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, and 
     at other broad-based international organizations.
       (b) Purposes of the Caucus.--A democracy caucus at an 
     international organization should--
       (1) forge common positions, including, as appropriate, at 
     the ministerial level, on matters of concern before the 
     organization and work within and across regional lines to 
     promote agreed positions;
       (2) work to revise an increasingly outmoded system of 
     regional voting and decision making; and
       (3) set up a rotational leadership scheme to provide member 
     states an opportunity, for a set period of time, to serve as 
     the designated president of the caucus, responsible for 
     serving as its voice in each organization.

     SEC. 103. ANNUAL DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS ON MULTILATERAL ISSUES.

       The Secretary of State, acting through the principal 
     officers responsible for advising the Secretary on 
     international organizations, shall ensure that a high-level 
     delegation from the United States Government, on an annual 
     basis, is sent to consult with key foreign governments in 
     every region in order to promote the United States agenda at 
     key international fora, such as the United Nations General 
     Assembly, United Nations Human Rights Commission, the United 
     Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization, and 
     the International Whaling Commission.

     SEC. 104. LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP OF INTERNATIONAL 
                   ORGANIZATIONS.

       (a) United States Policy.--The President, acting through 
     the Secretary of State and the relevant United States chiefs 
     of mission, shall use the voice, vote, and influence of the 
     United States to--
       (1) where appropriate, reform the criteria for leadership 
     and, in appropriate cases for membership, at all United 
     Nations bodies

[[Page H4786]]

     and at other international organizations and multilateral 
     institutions to which the United States is a member so as to 
     exclude nations that violate the principles of the specific 
     organization;
       (2) make it a policy of the United Nations and other 
     international organizations and multilateral institutions, of 
     which the United States is a member, that a member state may 
     not stand in nomination or be in rotation for a leadership 
     position in such bodies if the member state is subject to 
     sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council; and
       (3) work to ensure that no member state stand in nomination 
     or be in rotation for a leadership position in such 
     organizations, or for membership of the United Nations 
     Security Council, if the member state is subject to a 
     determination under section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 
     Act of 1961, section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act, or 
     section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act.
       (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 15 days after a 
     country subject to a determination under section 620A of the 
     Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, section 40 of the Arms Export 
     Control Act, or section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act 
     of 1979 is selected for a leadership post in an international 
     organization of which the United States is a member or a 
     membership of the United Nations Security Council, the 
     Secretary of State shall submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a report on any steps taken pursuant 
     to subsection (a)(3).

     SEC. 105. INCREASED TRAINING IN MULTILATERAL DIPLOMACY.

       (a) Training Programs.--Section 708 of the Foreign Service 
     Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding after 
     subsection (b) the following new subsection:
       ``(c) Training in Multilateral Diplomacy.--
       ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a series 
     of training courses for officers of the Service, including 
     appropriate chiefs of mission, on the conduct of diplomacy at 
     international organizations and other multilateral 
     institutions and at broad-based multilateral negotiations of 
     international instruments.
       ``(2) Particular programs.--The Secretary shall ensure that 
     the training described in paragraph (1) is provided at 
     various stages of the career of members of the service. in 
     particular, the Secretary shall ensure that after January 1, 
     2006--
       ``(A) officers of the Service receive training on the 
     conduct of diplomacy at international organizations and other 
     multilateral institutions and at broad-based multilateral 
     negotiations of international instruments as part of their 
     training upon entry of the Service; and
       ``(B) officers of the Service, including chiefs of mission, 
     who are assigned to United States missions representing the 
     United States to international organizations and other 
     multilateral institutions or who are assigned in Washington, 
     D.C., to positions that have as their primary responsibility 
     formulation of policy towards such organizations and 
     institutions or towards participation in broad-based 
     multilateral negotiations of international instruments 
     receive specialized training in the areas described in 
     paragraph (1) prior to beginning of service for such 
     assignment or, if receiving such training at that time is not 
     practical, within the first year of beginning such 
     assignment.''.
       (b) Training for Civil Service Employees.--The Secretary 
     shall ensure that employees of the Department of State that 
     are members of the civil service and that are assigned to 
     positions described in section 708(c) of the Foreign Service 
     Act of 1980 (as amended by this subtitle) have training 
     described in such section.
       (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 708 of such Act is 
     further amended--
       (1) In subsection (a) by striking ``(a) The'' and inserting 
     ``(a) Training on Human Rights.--The''; and
       (2) In subsection (b) by striking ``(b) The'' and inserting 
     ``(b) Training on Refugee Law and Religious Persecution.--
     The''.

     SEC. 106. PROMOTING ASSIGNMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL 
                   ORGANIZATIONS.

       (a) Promotions.--
       (1) In general.--Section 603(b) of the Foreign Service Act 
     of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 4003) is amended by striking the period at 
     the end and inserting: ``, and shall consider whether the 
     member of the Service has served in a position whose primary 
     responsibility is to formulate policy towards or represent 
     the United States at an international organization, a 
     multilateral institution, or a broad-based multilateral 
     negotiation of an international instrument.''.
       (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
     shall take effect January 1, 2011.
       (b) Establishment of a Multilateral Diplomacy Cone in the 
     Foreign Service.--
       (1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (A) The Department of State maintains a number of United 
     States missions both within the United States and abroad that 
     are dedicated to representing the United States to 
     international organizations and multilateral institutions, 
     including missions in New York, Brussels, Geneva, Rome, 
     Montreal, Nairobi, Vienna, and Paris, and which are 
     responsible for United States representation to the United 
     Nations Economics, Scientific and Cultural Organization 
     (UNESCO) and the Organization on Economic Cooperation and 
     Development (OECD).
       (B) In offices at the Harry S. Truman Building, the 
     Department maintains a significant number of positions in 
     bureaus that are either dedicated, or whose primary 
     responsibility is, to represent the United States to such 
     organizations and institutions or at multilateral 
     negotiations.
       (C) Given the large number of positions in the United 
     States and abroad that are dedicated to multilateral 
     diplomacy, the Department of State may be well served in 
     developing persons with specialized skills necessary to 
     become experts in this unique form of diplomacy.
       (2) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
     appropriate congressional committees a report--
       (A) evaluating whether a new cone should be established for 
     the Foreign Service that concentrates on members of the 
     Service that serve at international organizations and 
     multilateral institutions or are primarily responsible for 
     participation in broad-based multilateral negotiations of 
     international instruments; and
       (B) provides alternative mechanisms for achieving the 
     objective of developing a core group of United States 
     diplomats and other government employees who have expertise 
     and broad experience in conducting multilateral diplomacy.

     SEC. 107. IMPLEMENTATION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE ON 
                   MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS.

       (a) Establishment of Office.--The Secretary of State is 
     authorized to establish, within the Bureau of International 
     Organizational Affairs, an Office on Multilateral 
     Negotiations to be headed by a Special Representative for 
     Multilateral Negotiations (in this section referred to as the 
     ``special representative'').
       (b) Appointment.--The special representative shall be 
     appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the 
     Senate and shall have the rank of Ambassador-at-Large. At the 
     discretion of the President another official at the 
     Department may serve as the special representative. The 
     President may direct that the special representative report 
     to the Assistant Secretary for International Organizations.
       (c) Staffing.--The special representative shall have a 
     staff of foreign service and civil service officers skilled 
     in multilateral diplomacy.
       (d) Duties.--The special representative shall have the 
     following responsibilities:
       (1) In general.--The primary responsibility of the special 
     representative shall be to assist in the organization of, and 
     preparation for, United States participation in multilateral 
     negotiations, including the advocacy efforts undertaken by 
     the Department of State and other United States agencies.
       (2) Advisory role.--The special representative shall advise 
     the President and the Secretary of State, as appropriate, 
     regarding advocacy at international organizations and 
     multilateral institutions and negotiations and, in 
     coordination with the assistant Secretary of State for 
     international organizational affairs, shall make 
     recommendations regarding--
       (A) effective strategies (and tactics) to achieve United 
     States policy objectives at multilateral negotiations;
       (B) the need for and timing of high level intervention by 
     the President, the Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary 
     of State, and other United States officials to secure support 
     from key foreign government officials for the United States 
     position at such organizations, institutions, and 
     negotiations;
       (C) the composition of United States delegations to 
     multilateral negotiations; and
       (D) liaison with Congress, international organizations, 
     nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector on 
     matters affecting multilateral negotiations.
       (3) Democracy caucus.--The special representative, in 
     coordination with the Assistant Secretary for International 
     Organizational Affairs, shall ensure the establishment of a 
     democracy caucus.
       (4) Annual diplomatic missions of multilateral issues.--The 
     special representative, in coordination with the Assistant 
     Secretary for International Organizational Affairs, shall 
     organize annual diplomatic missions to appropriate foreign 
     countries to conduct consultations between principal officers 
     responsible for advising the Secretary of State on 
     international organizations and high-level representatives of 
     the governments of such foreign countries to promote the 
     United States agenda at the United Nations General Assembly 
     and other key international fora (such as the United Nations 
     Human Rights Commission).
       (5) Leadership and membership of international 
     organizations.--The special representative, in coordination 
     with the Assistant Secretary of International Organizational 
     Affairs, shall direct the efforts of the United States 
     Government to reform the criteria for leadership and 
     membership of international organizations as described in 
     section 104.
       (6) Participation in multilateral negotiations.--The 
     special representative, or members of the special 
     representative's staff, may, as required by the President or 
     the Secretary of State, serve on a United States delegation 
     to any multilateral negotiation.
       (e) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
     enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a 
     plan to establish a democracy caucus to the appropriate 
     congressional committees. The report

[[Page H4787]]

     required by section 106(b)(2) may be submitted together with 
     the report under this subsection.

     SEC. 108. DEFINITION.

       In this title, the term ``appropriate congressional 
     committees'' means the Committee on International Relations 
     of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign 
     Relations of the Senate.

                   TITLE II--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

     SEC. 201. REPORTS RELATING TO MAGEN DAVID ADOM SOCIETY.

       (a) Findings.--Section 690(a) of the Foreign Relations 
     Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 2003 (Public Law 107-228) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(5) Since the founding of the Magen David Adom in 1930, 
     the American Red Cross has regarded it as a sister national 
     society forging close working ties between the two societies 
     and has consistently advocated recognition and membership of 
     the Magen David Adom in the International Red Cross and Red 
     Crescent Movement.
       ``(6) The American Red Cross and Magen David Adom signed an 
     important memorandum of understanding in November 2002, 
     outlining areas for strategic collaboration, and the American 
     Red Cross will encourage other societies to establish similar 
     agreements with Magen David Adom.''.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--Section 690(b) of such Act is 
     amended--
       (1) in paragraph (3) after the semicolon by striking 
     ``and'';
       (2) by redesignating paragraph (4) as paragraph (5); and
       (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new 
     paragraph:
       ``(4) the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva 
     Conventions of August 12, 1949, should adopt the October 12, 
     2000, draft additional protocol which would accord 
     international recognition to an additional distinctive 
     emblem; and''.
       (c) Report.--Section 690 of such Act is further amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(c) Report.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
     enactment of the United States International Leadership Act 
     of 2004, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 
     shall submit a report, on a classified basis if necessary, to 
     the appropriate congressional committees describing--
       ``(1) efforts by the United States to obtain full 
     membership for the Magen David Adom in the International Red 
     Cross Movement;
       ``(2) efforts by the International Committee of the Red 
     Cross to obtain full membership for the Magen David Adom in 
     the International Red Cross Movement;
       ``(3) efforts of the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva 
     Convention of 1949 to adopt the October 12, 2000, draft 
     additional protocol; and
       ``(4) the extent to which the Magen David Adom of Israel is 
     participating in the activities of the International Red 
     Cross and Red Crescent Movement.''.

     SEC. 202. VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TO ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN 
                   STATES.

       There are authorized to be appropriated $2,000,000 for a 
     United States voluntary contribution to the Organization of 
     American States for the Inter-American Committee Against 
     Terrorism (CICTE) to identify and develop a port in the Latin 
     American and Caribbean region into a model of best security 
     practices and appropriate technologies for improving port 
     security in the Western Hemisphere. Amounts authorized to be 
     appropriated under this section are authorized to remain 
     available until expended and are in addition to amounts 
     otherwise available to carry out section 301 of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2221).

     SEC. 203. COMBATTING THE PIRACY OF UNITED STATES COPYRIGHTED 
                   MATERIALS.

       (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--In addition to such 
     amounts as may otherwise be authorized to be appropriated for 
     such purpose, there are authorized to be appropriated for the 
     Department of State, $10,000,000 to carry out the following 
     activities in countries that are not members of the 
     Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD):
       (1) Provision of equipment and training for foreign law 
     enforcement, including in the interpretation of intellectual 
     property laws.
       (2) Training for judges and prosecutors, including in the 
     interpretation of intellectual property laws.
       (3) Assistance in complying with obligations under 
     appropriate international copyright and intellectual property 
     treaties and agreements.
       (b) Consultation With World Intellectual Property 
     Organization.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Department 
     of State should make every effort to consult with, and 
     provide appropriate assistance to, the World Intellectual 
     Property Organization to promote the integration of non-OECD 
     countries into the global intellectual property system.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Lantos) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen)


                             General Leave

  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their 
remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 4053, the bill under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from Florida?
  There was no objection.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that all my colleagues support H.R. 4053, the 
United States International Leadership Act of 2004. This bill was 
introduced by my distinguished colleague and ranking Democratic member 
of the House Committee on International Relations, and a dear friend of 
mine, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos), who was joined by the 
chairman of the Committee on Rules, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Dreier), in advancing this idea of boosting U.S. diplomatic leadership 
within multilateral organizations.
  On a daily basis, the U.S. is participating in a wide range of 
multilateral organizations, and this requires a strong, well-trained 
diplomatic corps. There are also times when high profile issues are 
being debated within the U.N. Security Council, and those demand astute 
and skillful negotiators. This bill strengthens the U.S. diplomatic 
representatives in multilateral situations, it encourages participation 
of foreign service officers in such positions, and it authorizes the 
establishment of an Office on Multilateral Negotiations, which will 
facilitate U.S. participation in these negotiations.
  This bill also encourages the Secretary of State to establish a 
Democracy Caucus at the United Nations to forge common positions and 
work to update regional voting schemes.
  Mr. Speaker, as a former chair of the Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights, I witnessed firsthand the negative 
dynamics developing in international fora and the need for freedom-
loving Democratic nations to join together to offset these negative 
destructive patterns. Some of the steps outlined in this Act could go a 
long way to better represent the interests and the concerns of these 
Democratic countries.
  This measure moved smoothly through the Committee on International 
Relations, and I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the 
passage.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Let me first pay tribute to my dear friend, the gentlewoman from 
Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), for her effective leadership on this issue, 
as well as to the distinguished chairman of the Committee on Rules, my 
fellow Californian (Mr. Dreier), and the chairman of our committee, the 
Committee on International Relations, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. 
Hyde).
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation. Just a few 
short weeks ago, the members of a key United Nations committee gathered 
in New York to make a critically important decision related to 
internationally-recognized human rights. They met to determine next 
year's membership in the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
  Shockingly, when Africa's turn came to nominate its candidate, they 
unveiled their choice: Sudan, a country which is currently engaged in a 
brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region, where 
thousands and thousands of innocent men, women, and children have lost 
their lives in an orgy of assassinations.
  Mr. Speaker, it is outrageous that the government of a totalitarian 
regime, currently engaged in the mass slaughter of its own citizens, 
would be entrusted with protecting human rights elsewhere across the 
globe. Properly, the United States delegation simply walked out of the 
meeting in disgust.
  While I am a supporter of the United Nations, Mr. Chairman, for too 
many years we have allowed the deliberations of the U.N. General 
Assembly, the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, and many other 
critical multilateral bodies to be polluted by the machinations of 
rogue regimes. Despite the fact that the Cold War ended over 10 years 
ago, spurring a new wave of democratization across much of the

[[Page H4788]]

globe, authoritarian regimes still maintain a chokehold on key 
decisions at the United Nations. Working through the so-called Non-
aligned Movement, authoritarian and dictatorial regimes control the 
regional group caucuses in Africa, Asia, and some other parts of the 
world that form common positions on United Nations issues and nominate 
candidate countries for leadership positions.
  Sudan's accession to the Human Rights Commission was only the latest 
example of a broken system which favors rotten regimes. Three years 
ago, the world's leading human rights abusers came together to 
unceremoniously vote the United States off the Human Rights Commission 
in Geneva. As a result, one of the world's greatest human rights 
violators, the government of the People's Republic of China, got a free 
pass that year. Also, in 2001, Mr. Speaker, the United Nations convened 
the World Conference on Racism in Durban, South Africa, which I 
attended. The conference itself went down in flames after it was 
hijacked and turned into a forum for nondemocratic regimes to launch 
vicious hateful attacks on the Democratic State of Israel.
  Mr. Speaker, I, for one, am sick and tired of the world's 
dictatorships making key decisions at the United Nations, shouting out 
the voices of the democratic governments of the world. For that reason, 
I am pleased to join with my good friend and colleague, the gentleman 
from California (Mr. Dreier), in introducing this legislation before 
the House today.
  The United States International Leadership Act of 2004 will require 
our Department of State to take effective measures to end this nonsense 
and to give our diplomats the tools they need to ensure that America 
once again punches at its weight class in New York.
  The legislation accomplishes this important task by creating a 
Democracy Caucus to support democratic forces at the United Nations by 
directing the President to use our influence to reform United Nations 
rules so that rogue regimes cannot gain leadership positions, and by 
providing appropriate training to make our diplomats more effective in 
multilateral diplomacy.

                              {time}  1215

  Mr. Speaker, largely in response to this legislative initiative, the 
administration this year launched a democracy caucus in New York and in 
Geneva. Our leadership act will lend important new impetus for this 
effort, and it will help to ensure that it is broadened across the 
United Nations system.
  But the recent failure to keep Sudan off the Human Rights Commission 
shows that much work needs to be done. Our diplomats should have known 
in advance that Sudan was soon to be nominated for the commission, and 
the world's democratic nations should have been ready to block this 
mind-numbing decision.
  Our leadership act will force the Department of State to practice 
effective U.N. diplomacy. In coordination with our democratic partners, 
it will make it a much higher priority.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no reason why new democracies in Latin America 
and Asia and Africa should continue to vote with the likes of Cuba and 
the Sudan. An effective democracy caucus will help states like Chile 
and Botswana and Thailand to have a positive alternative to mindless 
solidarity with authoritarian regimes.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 4053.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from California (Mr. Dreier), our distinguished chairman 
of the Committee on Rules.
  (Mr. DREIER asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. DREIER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. 
Ros-Lehtinen) for yielding me this time, and I appreciate the time and 
effort she has put into this very important effort here.
  Mr. Speaker, having listened to the remarks of the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos), I have to say that this legislation is clearly 
bipartisanship at its best. We all know of the very famous line of 
Senator Vandenburg's that partisanship ends at the water's edge.
  While in trying to deal with the challenge of the United Nations, it 
is absolutely essential that we pursue bipartisanship as well as we 
can, and we know within this structure, encouraging democracy is a very 
important basis of that; and that is why I would like to not only 
compliment the gentleman from California (Mr. Lantos) and the others 
who have been involved in putting this legislation together but to 
compliment another very strong bipartisan effort, which actually was 
the brainchild for this important piece of legislation.
  A couple of years ago as we looked at the great challenge of trying 
to deal with the United States' role in the United Nations, we put 
together a task force that was done by Freedom House and the Council on 
Foreign Relations; and I was very pleased to cochair that effort, along 
with our former colleague Lee Hamilton. And, again, it was 
bipartisanship at its best, in that we had a wide range of people from 
varied backgrounds who had been involved in the diplomatic realm, in 
private sector organizations, nongovernment organizations involved with 
dealing with challenges that exist in the United Nations.
  We came up with some recommendations as to how we could enhance the 
leadership role of the United States of America in the United Nations, 
and I would commend to my colleagues this report. Actually, the report 
itself is only about 25 pages long, and it is a very good read. There 
are additional views. It goes through some other items in here; but 
basically the report itself, along with the conclusions, are about 25 
pages.
  And, again, it includes in it items that the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos) has just discussed. This concept of pursuing a 
democracy caucus, something that is very important for us to ensure 
that it is nations that are committed to self-determination, political 
pluralism, the rule of law, those things that we have a tendency to 
take for granted here in the United States that should be the true 
leaders within that very basic concept of the United Nations, and that 
is why this restructuring, the role that the Department of State will 
be able to play in having a structure that can help us, enhance our 
leadership and deal with the challenges that exist in nations, such as 
the Sudan, which was just referred to by my good friend.
  I do believe that this legislation, Mr. Speaker, is going to be a 
great help to us as a Nation and to the world as we pursue those goals, 
and so I simply want to express my appreciation to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Lantos), to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen), to the others, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hyde), those 
who have focused on this, and also to express my appreciation to all of 
the organizations that worked with us with the task force that we put 
together, as well as individuals within the Department of State who 
have helped fashion this effort.
  So this is a very important measure. I believe it will go a long way 
towards addressing the shared goals that we have, and I urge my 
colleagues to support it.
  Mr. KENNEDY of Minnesota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to show my strong 
support for this legislation's important language on the creation of a 
``Democracy Caucus'' at the United Nations.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a growing crisis at the UN. This crisis is the 
decline in the UN's focus on building democracies and spreading freedom 
throughout the world. Increasingly, the UN is becoming dominated by 
non- and, in far too many cases, anti-democratic governments. For 
example, the 191 members of the United Nations, 102 do not have 
completely free and democratic governments. 47 members are notorious 
dictatorships. 6 are even known terrorist states.
  As the UN has lost its focus on promoting democracy, scandal has 
plagued the organization. Take the Oil-for-Food program. The world, 
particularly the Iraqi people, is waiting to learn the magnitude of 
corruption involved in the Oil for Food scandal. Credible reports 
allege the UN paid itself at least $1.4 billion in commissions for its 
work on a program that stole as much as $10 billion in food and 
humanitarian relief from the Iraqi people it was designed to help. This 
is only the latest examples of a crisis of confidence at the UN.
  Nearly half of the 53 countries sitting on the UN Human Rights 
Commission are known violators of the human rights of their own 
citizens. For example, take the Sudan, which

[[Page H4789]]

was just reelected to the Human Rights Commission. This Is the same 
country that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has cited for its ongoing 
acts of ethnic cleansing against its people, which may result in the 
deaths of more than 320,000 people this year alone.
  Mr. Speaker, the United Nations was created by the United States and 
the other victors of World War II to be an instrument for world peace 
and democracy. Instead, since its founding, there have been 291 wars 
which have resulted in over 22 million deaths. The UN needs a Democracy 
Caucus, and it needs one now.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of my friend's legislation, because I 
share his belief that the UN system is broken. Democracies and 
dictatorships are not the same, yet within the UN system they have the 
same vote. It is time for the democracies of the world to come together 
to provide the leadership that has been lacking for too long in the UN.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Simmons). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) that the 
House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 4053.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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