[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 207 (Tuesday, December 8, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7282-S7283]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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    SENATE RESOLUTION 796--RECOGNIZING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 
                  ESTABLISHMENT OF THE UNITED NATIONS

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

                              S. Res. 796

       Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt coined the 
     phrase ``United Nations'' in January 1942;
       Whereas 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the 
     Charter of the United Nations in 1945;
       Whereas, on June 26, 1945, the Charter of the United 
     Nations was signed in San Francisco at the conclusion of the 
     United Nations Conference on International Organization, and 
     came into force on October 24, 1945;
       Whereas, June 26, 2020, marked the 75th anniversary of the 
     establishment of the United Nations;
       Whereas, on September 10, 1948, the United Nations General 
     Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 
     which is the cornerstone for modern-day human rights and the 
     world's most translated document;
       Whereas, in September 1960, 17 newly independent countries, 
     including 16 from Africa, joined the United Nations, marking 
     the biggest increase in membership in any one year;
       Whereas the United Nations has greatly contributed to 
     international peace and security;
       Whereas the United Nations has provided a forum for the 
     achievement of international cooperation to address 
     international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian 
     problems, including promoting cooperation on climate change, 
     supporting human rights, and combating human trafficking;
       Whereas, since 1948, the United Nations has deployed 71 
     peacekeeping and observation missions to some of the world's 
     most complex regions and countries;
       Whereas the United Nations peacekeeping missions have been 
     charged with mandates to stabilize conflict zones after a 
     cease-fire, assist in the implementation of comprehensive 
     peace agreements, protect civilians from violence, facilitate 
     delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable 
     communities, and create stable governing institutions in 
     fragile states;
       Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers played an 
     instrumental role in stabilizing Liberia following two 
     devastating civil wars, paving the way in 2018 for the first 
     peaceful transition of power between democratically elected 
     Presidents in the country since 1944;
       Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers helped to avert a 
     genocide in the Central African Republic, continue to protect 
     tens of thousands of civilians from ethnic and political 
     violence in South Sudan, provide security to health workers 
     battling the second largest Ebola outbreak in history in 
     eastern Congo, and play an important role in ensuring that 
     calm and stability prevail along the Israel-Lebanon border;
       Whereas, in 2006, under the leadership of the United 
     Nations, member nations adopted the first-ever global 
     strategy to counter terrorism, which was followed by other 
     global agreements, including agreements against hostage 
     taking, aircraft hijacking, terrorism bombings, and terrorism 
     financing;
       Whereas the United States has used its permanent seat on 
     the United Nations Security Council to push for the adoption 
     of multilateral sanctions, including asset freezes, travel 
     bans, arms embargoes, trade restrictions, and other measures, 
     against terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and ISIS, rogue 
     states that seek to obtain weapons of mass destruction like 
     North Korea, and countries embroiled by internal armed 
     conflict such as South Sudan;
       Whereas the United Nations has provided electoral 
     assistance to more than 100 countries and helped facilitate 
     the transition to democracy in these countries, observing 
     landmark elections in Cambodia, El Salvador, South Africa, 
     Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Iraq, Nepal, Afghanistan, 
     and Sierra Leone;
       Whereas the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable 
     Development Goals in September 2015, requiring member nations 
     to commit to eradicating extreme poverty, fighting 
     inequality, empowering women and girls, protecting natural 
     resources, improving governance, and encouraging sustainable 
     and inclusive economic growth;
       Whereas the United Nations has played a critical role in 
     improving global public health, including through the Joint 
     United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS;
       Whereas the World Health Organization, a United Nations 
     specialized agency, serves as a multilateral coordinating 
     body responsible for monitoring and leading the response to 
     outbreaks of infectious disease, spearheading vaccination 
     efforts, and developing campaigns to combat life-threatening 
     illnesses like polio and malaria;
       Whereas the World Health Organization played a central role 
     in the eradication of smallpox in 1979, to date the only 
     human disease ever to be eradicated;
       Whereas the United Nations Population Fund aims to end the 
     unmet need for family planning, end preventable maternal 
     deaths, and end gender-based violence and harmful practices 
     such as child marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030 
     in all countries, including those affected by conflict and 
     disaster;
       Whereas the United Nations Population Fund has helped 
     reduce maternal mortality by half since 1990;
       Whereas the United Nations Children's Fund is active in 190 
     countries and territories to reach the children and young 
     people in greatest need;
       Whereas the United Nations World Food Program reaches more 
     than 86,000,000 people in 83 countries annually;
       Whereas the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and 
     Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to build peace through 
     international cooperation in education, the sciences, and 
     culture, and is preserving 1,073 World Heritage sites in 167 
     countries;
       Whereas today, with global population displacement at the 
     highest level recorded since World War II, the World Food 
     Program, together with the United Nations High Commissioner 
     for Refugees, United Nations Children's Fund, and other 
     United Nations agencies, is feeding, clothing, and sheltering 
     millions from Syria, Iraq, the Central African Republic, and 
     numerous other countries;
       Whereas the ongoing COVID-19 crisis highlights the need for 
     strong and collective multilateral action;
       Whereas, since the beginning of the global COVID-19 
     pandemic, the entire United Nations system has been hard at 
     work: The World Health Organization (WHO) is on the

[[Page S7283]]

     ground in over 140 countries helping countries scale-up 
     testing and access essential personal protective equipment, 
     while also coordinating research and innovation efforts to 
     advance drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics; the UN Refugee 
     Agency (UNHCR) is scaling up assistance to refugee camps; 
     UNICEF is supporting the millions of children who are out of 
     school; the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is strengthening 
     health systems to ensure reproductive and maternal health 
     care; the World Food Programme (WFP) has established air hubs 
     to distribute vital food and medical supplies across Africa; 
     and United Nations peacekeeping missions are using troop 
     patrols to educate on mitigation measures.
       Whereas, in Yemen, which has been on the brink of famine 
     for several years and where 80 percent of the population 
     relies on humanitarian aid to survive, United Nations 
     agencies are working to reach 12,000,000 people each month 
     with food and nutritional assistance, respond to a cholera 
     epidemic that has sickened nearly 1,000,000 people since 
     January 2018, rehabilitate irrigation systems and provide 
     agricultural inputs to increase domestic food production, and 
     provide reproductive health care and safe delivery services 
     to women;
       Whereas the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin 
     Griffiths, is working to broker a diplomatic solution to the 
     conflict and organized the first direct talks between the 
     Government of Yemen and Houthis in December 2018, resulting 
     in an agreement for a cease-fire and military redeployment 
     from the port of Hodeidah;
       Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner 
     for Human Rights plays a leading role in helping to elevate 
     and advance human rights throughout the world;
       Whereas, in recent years, the Office of the High 
     Commissioner has aided efforts to uncover and report on 
     abuses in Syria, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, 
     Yemen, Myanmar, Iraq, Belarus, and a host of other countries;
       Whereas these types of activities help raise public 
     awareness of human rights violations, magnify the voices of 
     dissidents and civil society organizations on the ground, and 
     provide a tool for pressuring repressive governments and 
     holding abusers accountable;
       Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres 
     has implemented key reforms, and continues to be committed to 
     instituting necessary reforms to improve the effectiveness of 
     the United Nations and strengthen oversight;
       Whereas 2020 marks the start of the decade of action and 
     delivery for the Sustainable Development Goals, major 
     conferences on climate change, biodiversity, nuclear 
     nonproliferation, and health, the 25th anniversary of the 
     landmark Beijing World Conference on Women, the 20th 
     anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 
     1325, and the 10th anniversary of United Nations Women, among 
     others;
       Whereas the United Nations remains an indispensable partner 
     for the United States as Congress works to protect United 
     States national security and foreign policy interests around 
     the world;
       Whereas the United Nations conducts business with numerous 
     United States corporations and organizations and annually 
     awards United States businesses with over $1,000,000,000 in 
     contracts;
       Whereas these contracts were executed in 30 States and more 
     than 100 cities and communities, benefitting hundreds of 
     Americans who work to provide the United Nations a range of 
     critical goods and services, including telecommunications, 
     construction, food production, and military supplies; and
       Whereas the participation and leadership by the United 
     States in the United Nations is essential to securing United 
     States interests in international peace and security: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) recognizes the 75th anniversary of the establishment of 
     the United Nations;
       (2) recognizes the United Nations for the critical role it 
     plays in maintaining international peace and security;
       (3) applauds the United Nations for its leadership and 
     ongoing efforts in addressing global health crises, including 
     the global fight against HIV/AIDS;
       (4) applauds the United Nations for its response to 
     unprecedented humanitarian crises that have resulted in 
     staggering escalation of displacements and suffering in 
     countries such as Yemen, Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, 
     the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of 
     the Congo;
       (5) commends the United Nations for its commitment to 
     eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; and
       (6) urges the President to issue a proclamation calling on 
     the people of the United States to observe the 75th 
     anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations with 
     appropriate ceremonies and activities.

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