[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 11]
[EXTE]
[Page 14612]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      ON ILLICIT ARMS TRAFFICKING

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 17, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address the issue of illegal 
trafficking of small arms and light weapons which is responsible for 
the death of approximately 1,000 people every day worldwide. As U.N. 
Secretary General Kori Annan reminded us in the U.N. conference on 
curtailing small arms and light weapons, ``these weapons may be small, 
but they cause mass destruction.''
  The United States objects to any international regulation on arms 
trade and is opposed to a blanket ban on governments selling arms to 
`non-state actors,' i.e. rebel groups, on the grounds that the 
oppressed have the right to defend themselves against tyrannical and 
genocidal governments. Unfortunately our policy also leaves the door 
open for terrorists groups to get their hands on weaponry. The U.S. 
government is loathe to sacrifice the liberty of the oppressed people 
worldwide in exchange for a possible security risk (terrorist threat) 
to the United States, but has no qualms in forfeiting the privacy and 
civil liberties of American citizens in return for security.
  Furthermore, the United States is the leading producer of arms in the 
world, meaning we, more than any other country engage in arms trade 
with other governments, as well as `nonstate actors.' We, as the 
superpower of the global system, must take the leading role in 
eliminating illicit arms trafficking which supplies armaments to brutal 
civil wars and organized crime networks and thereby causing massive 
casualties worldwide, everyday.
  The United Nations has adopted a non-binding agreement program of 
action in its conference on ``illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light 
Weapons In All Its Aspects,'' held in July 9-20, 2001. It encourages 
nations to ensure manufacturers use markings on small arms and light 
weapons make tracing illegal arms easier. It also encourages 
implementation of procedures to monitor legal sales, transfer and 
stockpiling of small arms and light weapons and urges governments to 
make illegal manufacture, trade and possession a criminal offense.
  The U.S. policy should be to support the U.N.'s Program of Action and 
try to make the resolution of the conference binding to the member 
states. We already have strict regulatory policies in arms trade within 
our borders. We need to expand those policies internationally with the 
assistance of the United Nations.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise to enter into the Record, the article by Warren 
Hoge, titled With caveats. U.S. Backs Session at U.N. on curtailing 
Illegal Arms, published in the June 28, 2006 edition of the New York 
Times, reporting on the U.N. Small Arms & Light Weapons Review 
Conference 2006.

                [From the New York Times, June 28, 2006]

  With Caveats, U.S. Backs Session at U.N. on Curtailing Illegal Arms

                            (By Warren Hoge)

       United Nations, June 27.--The Bush administration gave its 
     backing on Tuesday to a United Nations conference on 
     curtailing the international flow of illegal arms, but warned 
     delegates against adopting measures that would restrict 
     individual possession of weapons.
       ``The U.S. Constitution guarantees the rights of our 
     citizens to keep and bear arms, and there will be no 
     infringement of those rights,'' Robert G. Joseph, under 
     secretary of state for arms control and international 
     security affairs, told the General Assembly. ``Many millions 
     of American citizens enjoy hunting and the full range of 
     firearms sports, and our work will not affect their rights,'' 
     he said.
       He also said Washington would object to any steps to 
     establish international regulation of ammunition or to ban 
     governments from selling arms to rebel groups, known in 
     diplomatic jargon as ``nonstate actors.''
       ``While we will of course continue to oppose the 
     acquisition of arms by terrorist groups,'' he said, ``we 
     recognize the rights of the oppressed to defend themselves 
     against tyrannical and genocidal regimes and oppose a blanket 
     ban on nonstate actors.''
       The two-week conference, which began Monday, is intended to 
     improve ways of curbing the $1 billion black market in the 
     manufacture and distribution of small arms and light weapons 
     that supply brutal civil wars and organized crime networks 
     and end up killing an estimated 1,000 people every day 
     worldwide.
       Secretary General Kofi Annan reminded the gathering that 
     ``these weapons may be small, but they cause mass 
     destruction.'' He urged member countries to toughen existing 
     laws governing arms deals.
       Steps that Mr. Joseph said the United States would support 
     included the marking and tracing of weapons, controls on 
     transfers, certification of the ultimate recipients, 
     effective management of national stockpiles and destruction 
     of illicit and government-declared surplus weapons.
       Mr. Annan said the conference was not contemplating a 
     global ban on gun ownership. ``Nor do we wish to deny law-
     abiding citizens their right to bear arms in accordance with 
     their national laws,'' he said.
       He seemed to be referring to a campaign by the National 
     Rifle Association, which has charged in mass mailings that 
     the United Nations is plotting to take away Americans' guns 
     through a treaty banning ownership.
       John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador to the United 
     Nations, confirmed that he had received hundreds of the form 
     letters. Asked why all three citizen delegates from the 
     United States to the conference were prominent members of the 
     gun lobby group, he said he made it a practice not to comment 
     on the activities of nongovernmental organizations.

                          ____________________