[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 177 (Friday, October 24, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E996]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING UNITED NATIONS DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. ED CASE

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 24, 2025

  Mr. CASE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my ongoing support of 
the United Nations on this United Nations Day.
  October 24, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the effective date of 
the United Nations Charter, the UN's founding document. Since the UN's 
inception in 1945, its 51 original member states have now grown to 193, 
and the UN remains the one place on Earth where all nations gather 
together, discuss common problems, resolve disputes and forge shared 
solutions that benefit all of humanity.
  Every year, the UN and its organizations assist and protect 139 
million people fleeing war, famine and persecution through the UN High 
Commissioner for Refugees; provide food and assistance to 123 million 
people in over 120 countries and territories through the World Food 
Programme; and keep the peace with 61,000 UN peacekeepers in eleven 
operations across the world. UN-led international agreements address 
international needs ranging from intellectual property to the high seas 
and beyond.
  In a recent trip to Mongolia to review the UN's wide-ranging efforts, 
my Congressional colleagues and I witnessed firsthand how U.S. 
participation in the UN both delivers lasting positive impacts to 
populations around the world and supports our national interests. For 
Mongolia, a country sandwiched between two of our geopolitical 
competitors, Russia and the People's Republic of China (PRC), support 
from the UN together with other multilateral and bilateral 
relationships is critical to addressing its economic, educational, 
health, environmental, social, cultural and security needs. This in 
turn enables Mongolia to pursue a mutually beneficial ``third 
neighbor'' relationship with other nations including our own.
  It is alarming that, just as the world faces almost overwhelming 
challenges, from geopolitical to economic, humanitarian, developmental, 
health, weather and beyond, the current administration has made 
numerous decisions that have led to massive UN budget cuts, crippling 
the UN's overall efforts. While critics of the UN may claim that this 
is saving the U.S. money, this will only end up costing more in the 
long run as instability festers around the world in the absence of UN 
programming that feeds children and monitors intense conflicts, such as 
between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti's 
gang violence. It also leaves a vacuum of influence that bad actors are 
all too eager to fill with their goal of supplanting the international 
rules-based order under which both the U.S. and world have enjoyed 
three generations of relative peace and advancement.
  On this 80th UN Day, let us remember that U.S. engagement in the UN 
is both a moral obligation to our world and a critical component of our 
country's long-term economic and national security strategy. Working 
together with UN member states, we can reduce international instability 
and create the conditions for transformational change that will expand 
the benefits of the last three generations into future generations.
  To our UN `ohana (family) around the world, wherever they are, past, 
present and future, I hope they know that, especially in these 
difficult times for an indispensable organization in which we all 
believe deeply, their steadfast commitment to their mission and a 
broader purpose is deeply appreciated and valued.

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