[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 182 (Friday, October 23, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E980]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        COMMEMORATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE UNITED NATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 23, 2020

  Mr. CASE. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the upcoming 75th 
anniversary of the United Nations and recognize the continued 
importance of multilateral action as we pursue a more peaceful, 
prosperous and just world.
  On October 24, 1945, less than two months after the world emerged 
from the deadliest conflict in human history, the United Nations 
Charter entered into force, formally creating the United Nations. The 
Charter was and continues to be a visionary document dedicated to the 
indispensable idea that, through diplomacy and consultation, states can 
work together to achieve a better world.
  American leadership played a central role in the effort to establish 
the United Nations. Even before the United States entered the Second 
World War, President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston 
Churchill issued the Atlantic Charter to outline their vision for the 
post-war international order. In the final years of the war, 
individuals like Cordell Hull, Edward Stettinius Jr., Ralph Bunche and 
many others played crucial roles in shaping the draft United Nations 
Charter.
  Congress was deeply involved as well, with Members on both sides of 
the aisle participating in the San Francisco Conference. 
Representatives Sol Bloom of New York and Charles Aubrey Eaton of New 
Jersey and Senators Tom Connally of Texas and Arthur Vandenberg of 
Michigan helped make the case for the United Nations in Congress and to 
the American public. On July 28, 1945, the Senate voted to ratify the 
United Nations Charter by an overwhelming vote of 89 in favor, 2 
against--a dramatic change from the rejection of the League of Nations 
just 26 years prior.
  Yet the push for a United Nations also came from beyond the halls of 
Washington. In 1943, a dedicated, passionate group of Americans created 
the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-
USA), bringing the discussion of a post-war order to homes and 
communities across the country. Thus began a rich history of advocacy 
for American leadership and participation in the United Nations that 
continues to this day, with over 20,000 UNA-USA members in over 200 
chapters across the country.
  In the decades since 1945, through the most turbulent years of the 
Cold War, through the challenges of decolonization and entering the new 
millennium, the United Nations has been center stage for the 
international community in addressing issues like conflict and peace, 
economic development, global health, gender equality, human rights and 
more. Through the United Nations and the multitude of specialized 
agencies that have emerged to coordinate international action, the 
international community has come together to eradicate smallpox and 
curb other infectious diseases, protect the ozone layer, lift millions 
out of poverty, promote maternal and child health, preserve cultural 
and historical sites and so much more.
  Yet, in an era of renewed great power competition, we must not forget 
nor neglect the responsibility of the United Nations for international 
peace. This duty is enshrined first in the preamble of the United 
Nations Charter in its resolution to ``save succeeding generations from 
the scourge of war.'' In our world today, amidst heightened tensions, 
rising nationalism and a growing rejection of multilateralism, we 
cannot afford to forget United Nations Secretary-General Dag 
Hammarskjold's famous statement that ``the United Nations was not 
created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from 
hell.''
  No one can deny that there are limits and flaws to the United 
Nations, and examples abound of ways in which the organization has 
fallen short. Yet it is also an evolving institution, reshaping itself 
to face the challenges and meet the demands of an ever-changing world. 
To quote Hammarskjold again, ``setbacks in trying to realize the ideal 
do not prove the ideal is at fault.''
  The United Nations was America's answer to an uncertain global future 
in 1945. Since then, the United Nations has been a pillar of the 
liberal international order that has benefited not just the United 
States but the entire world as well.
  It is too early to say exactly how future historians will recall 
2020. The challenges ahead are many, not just this COVID-19 pandemic, 
but also a worldwide economic recession, a global refugee crisis, 
climate change, and more. America's answer to those challenges must 
include the United Nations. It falls upon all of us today, as heirs to 
the legacy of those brave and visionary Americans who won both the war 
and the peace after, to continue working with the United Nations in 
pursuit of the future we want.

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