IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 395 

Reaffirming the leadership of the United States in promoting the safety, 

health, and well-being of refugees and displaced persons. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2017 

Mr. TED LIEU of California (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. BERA, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of 

New York, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CURBELO

of Florida, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. ENGEL, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Mr. HUFFMAN, 

Mr. HULTGREN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KIND, 

Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. PRICE

of North Carolina, Mr. POCAN, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. 

SCHNEIDER, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of 

Washington, Mr. SOTO, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. BEYER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. 

ESPAILLAT, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. WELCH, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. SERRANO, and Mrs. DAVIS

of California) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Reaffirming the leadership of the United States in promoting 

the safety, health, and well-being of refugees and displaced persons. 

Whereas the United States has been a global leader in responding to displacement crises around the world and 


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•HRES 395 IH 

promoting the safety, health, and well-being of refugees 

and displaced persons; 

Whereas many around the world observe June 20 as World 

Refugee Day, a global day to acknowledge the courage, 

strength, and determination of women, men, and children 

who are forced to flee their homes due to conflict, violence, and persecution; 

Whereas according to the United Nations High Commissioner 

for Refugees— 

(1) there are more than 65,600,000 displaced people 

worldwide, the worst displacement crisis in global history, 

including almost 22,500,000 refugees, over 40,300,000 

internally displaced people, and 2,800,000 people seeking 

asylum; 

(2) children account for 51 percent of the refugee 

population in the world, millions of whom are unable to 

access basic services, including education; 

(3) on average, 20 people are displaced from their 

homes every minute; 

(4) 10,300,000 individuals were newly displaced due 

to conflict or persecution in 2016 alone, including 

6,900,000 displaced within the borders of their own countries and 3,400,000 new refugees and asylum seekers; 

(5) over 5,500,000 refugees have fled Syria since the 

start of the Syrian conflict and more than 6,300,000 people are internally displaced within Syria; 

(6) since January 2014, more than 3,000,000 Iraqis 

fleeing violence have been internally displaced, and 

257,000 refugees have fled to neighboring countries; and 

(7) South Sudan is now the largest refugee crisis in 

Africa and the third largest worldwide, responsible for 


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•HRES 395 IH 

approximately 1,800,000 refugees, including 1,000,000 

children; 

Whereas 84 percent of the world’s refugees are hosted in developing regions, with more than a quarter in the world’s 

least developed countries; 

Whereas refugee children are 5 times more likely to be out 

of school than non-refugee children; 

Whereas refugees who are women and children are often at 

greater risk of violence, human trafficking, exploitation, 

and gender-based violence; and 

Whereas the United States continues to be the single largest 

refugee resettlement country in the world and the single 

largest donor of humanitarian assistance: Now, therefore, 

be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) reaffirms the bipartisan commitment of the 

3 United States to promote the safety, health, and 

4 well-being of the millions of refugees, including the 

5 education of refugee children and displaced persons 

6 who flee war, persecution, or torture in search of 

7 peace, hope, and freedom; 

8 (2) recognizes those who have risked their lives, 

9 working either individually or for nongovernmental 

10 organizations and international agencies such as the 

11 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to 

12 provide life-saving assistance and help protect those 

13 displaced by conflict around the world; 

14 (3) calls upon the United States Government— 


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•HRES 395 IH 

1 (A) to uphold its international leadership 

2 role in responding to displacement crises with 

3 humanitarian assistance and protection of the 

4 most vulnerable populations who endure sexual 

5 violence, human trafficking, persecution and vi6 olence against religious minorities, forced con7 scription, genocide, and exploitation; 

8 (B) to work in partnership with the inter9 national community to find solutions to existing 

10 conflicts and prevent new conflicts from begin11 ning; 

12 (C) to continue to support the efforts of 

13 the United Nations High Commissioner for 

14 Refugees and to advance the work of non15 governmental organizations to protect refugees 

16 regardless of their country of origin or religious 

17 beliefs; and 

18 (D) to continue to mitigate through hu19 manitarian and development support the burden 

20 placed on frontline refugee host countries that 

21 absorb the majority of the world’s refugees; and 

22 (4) reaffirms the goals of World Refugee Day 

23 and reiterates the strong commitment to protect the 


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•HRES 395 IH 

1 millions of refugees who live without material, social, 

2 or legal protections. 

Æ 


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