[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 50 (Thursday, March 21, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S2519]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





SENATE RESOLUTION 609--RECOGNIZING APRIL 4, 2024, AS THE INTERNATIONAL 
 DAY FOR MINE AWARENESS AND ASSISTANCE IN MINE ACTION, AND REAFFIRMING 
   THE LEADERSHIP OF THE UNITED STATES IN ELIMINATING LANDMINES AND 
                          UNEXPLODED ORDNANCE

  Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Welch) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 609

       Whereas landmines and unexploded ordnance threaten the 
     safety, health, and lives of civilian populations and create 
     humanitarian and development challenges that have serious and 
     lasting social, economic, and security consequences for 
     effected populations;
       Whereas demining and clearance of unexploded ordnance 
     enables displaced people to return to their homes and has a 
     direct impact on development outcomes such as food security, 
     school attendance, and economic development;
       Whereas people in at least 60 countries and other areas are 
     at risk from mines and unexploded ordnance in their 
     communities;
       Whereas more than 135,000 deaths and injuries resulting 
     from anti-personnel or anti-vehicle mines and other explosive 
     remnants of war have been recorded in the Landmine Monitor 
     database since 2001, and thousands more individuals around 
     the world are killed and injured by such mines and remnants 
     each year;
       Whereas, over the past 3 decades, the United States has 
     been the global leader in supporting efforts to clear mine-
     contaminated areas around the world, dedicating more than 
     $4,600,000,000 for demining and related programs in 120 
     countries and territories since 1993;
       Whereas, since 1989, the United States Agency for 
     International Development has allocated more than 
     $337,000,000 through the Leahy War Victims Fund in more than 
     50 countries to provide artificial limbs, wheelchairs, 
     rehabilitation, vocational training, and other assistance to 
     survivors of accidents caused by landmines and unexploded 
     ordnance;
       Whereas the United States Government expressed its support 
     for the Maputo +15 declaration of June 27, 2014, which 
     established the goal ``to destroy all stockpiled anti-
     personnel mines and clear all mined areas as soon as 
     possible'';
       Whereas there are 164 States Parties to the Convention on 
     the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and 
     Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, 
     done at the Oslo Landmine Conference, September 18, 1997;
       Whereas the recent use of landmines, cluster bombs, and 
     other munitions, particularly in the Middle East, 
     Afghanistan, Burma, and Ukraine, has created new humanitarian 
     priorities and funding requirements for demining, while 
     legacy mine contamination remains an urgent challenge 
     impacting millions of people globally;
       Whereas Russia's aggression in Ukraine has resulted in an 
     estimated one third of the territory being contaminated with 
     landmines and unexploded ordnance, creating a massive need 
     for clearance operations as a prerequisite for Ukraine's 
     recovery;
       Whereas these needs in Ukraine do not diminish the 
     similarly urgent need for humanitarian demining in other 
     parts of the world;
       Whereas additional resources for demining will be needed to 
     achieve a world free of the threat of landmines and other 
     explosive hazards; and
       Whereas, on December 8, 2005, the United Nations General 
     Assembly declared that April 4th of each year shall be 
     observed as the International Day for Mine Awareness and 
     Assistance in Mine Action: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
     support international humanitarian efforts to eliminate 
     landmines and unexploded ordnance;
       (2) recognizes those individuals in numerous countries who, 
     at great risk to their personal safety, work to locate and 
     remove anti-personnel landmines and unexploded ordnance;
       (3) affirms its support for the goal, as expressed by the 
     Maputo +15 declaration of June 27, 2014, to intensify efforts 
     to clear mined areas to the fullest extent possible by 2025;
       (4) calls upon the United States Government--
       (A) to continue providing the funding necessary to support 
     international humanitarian demining activities;
       (B) to maintain its international leadership role in 
     seeking to rid the world of areas contaminated by landmines 
     and unexploded ordnance; and
       (C) to rededicate itself to addressing legacy mine 
     contamination as an urgent humanitarian priority; and
       (5) reaffirms the goals of the International Day for Mine 
     Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.

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