I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3079

To establish the National Commission on the Modernization of the United 

Nations. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 11, 2003

Mr. CRENSHAW (for himself and Mr. BLUNT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To establish the National Commission on the Modernization 

of the United Nations.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Commission 

5 on the Modernization of the United Nations Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT. 

7 There is established a commission to be known as the 

8 ‘‘National Commission on the Modernization of the United 

9 Nations’’. 
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1 SEC. 3. DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall—

3 (1) conduct a study of the areas specified in 

4 this section; 

5 (2) recommend reforms with respect to such 

6 areas; and 

7 (3) enumerate methods to implement each rec8 ommendation. 

9 (b) STUDY OF EXTENT OF MODERNIZATION WITHIN

10 CONFINES OF PRESENT CHARTER.—The Commission 

11 shall—

12 (1) study the requirements for and extent to 

13 which a modernization of the organizational struc14 ture and practices of the United Nations can be ef15 fectuated that do not require substantive changes to 

16 be made to the Charter of the United Nations; and 

17 (2) make recommendations to implement such a 

18 modernization. 

19 (c) STUDY OF EXTENT OF MODERNIZATION REQUIR20 ING MODIFICATIONS TO PRESENT CHARTER.—The Com21 mission shall—

22 (1) study the requirements for and extent to 

23 which a modernization of the organizational struc24 ture and practices of the United Nations can only be 

25 effectuated by requiring substantive changes to be 

26 made to the Charter, paying particular attention to 
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1 the areas of study enumerated in subsections (d) 

2 through (i); and 

3 (2) make recommendations to implement such a 

4 modernization. 

5 (d) STUDY OF MEMBER STATE PRINCIPLES.—The 

6 Commission shall study the principles to which states 

7 should adhere as members of the United Nations, paying 

8 particular attention to the following: 

9 (1) Whether states that espouse and enforce 

10 values that are counter to the Charter should be per11 mitted to be members of the United Nations. 

12 (2) What recourse should be available to the 

13 United Nations to respond to a member state that 

14 has engaged in conduct counter to the Charter. 

15 (3) What conduct on the part of a member 

16 state would constitute sufficient grounds for—

17 (A) expulsion; 

18 (B) condemnation; or 

19 (C) sanction. 

20 (e) STUDY OF MEMBER STATE STATUS.—The Com21 mission shall study the feasibility of mandating the fol22 lowing requirements of member states: 

23 (1) Requirement of regular review by the 

24 United Nations of the status of all member states to 
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1 determine if member states continue to adhere to 

2 the principles outlined in the Charter. 

3 (2) Requirement for member states to—

4 (A) sign a ‘‘Declaration of Member States’’ 

5 declaring that the signatory state agrees to ad6 here to the principles of United Nations mem7 bership; and 

8 (B) review the principles of the United Na9 tions to determine whether the state should 

10 withdraw from membership if the state deter11 mines that the United Nations is not adhering 

12 to the implementation of the Charter. 

13 (f) STUDY OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION ON

14 PRINCIPAL ORGANS.—The Commission shall study the 

15 following: 

16 (1) Whether all states should have one vote in 

17 the General Assembly. 

18 (2) Whether the United Nations should be 

19 structured in a bi-cameral fashion. 

20 (g) STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONAL AND BUSINESS

21 FUNCTIONS.—The Commission shall study the following: 

22 (1) Whether auxiliary commissions and organi23 zations of the United Nations should be funded by 

24 member dues. 
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1 (2) Whether such commissions and organiza2 tions detract from the Charter principles by draining 

3 resources away from the primary functions of the 

4 United Nations. 

5 (3) Whether member states can create caucuses 

6 and fund them to deal with matters of common in7 terest without detracting from the main objectives of 

8 the United Nations. 

9 (h) STUDY OF USE, STRUCTURE, AND GOALS OF

10 PEACEKEEPING AND HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS.—The 

11 Commission shall study the following: 

12 (1) Whether the United Nations should main13 tain a separate peacekeeping force. 

14 (2) Identification of successes of past peace15 keeping and humanitarian efforts. 

16 (i) STUDY OF ENFORCEMENT OF RESOLUTIONS.—

17 The Commission shall study the credibility of resolutions 

18 when the United Nations does not mandate their absolute 

19 obedience. 

20 SEC. 4. MEMBERSHIP. 

21 (a) NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT.—The Commission 

22 shall be composed of 9 members appointed from among 

23 persons who are not officers or employees of any govern24 ment, as follows: 

25 (1) Two members appointed by the President. 
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1 (2) Two members appointed by the Speaker of 

2 the House of Representatives. 

3 (3) Two members appointed by the Majority 

4 Leader of the Senate. 

5 (4) One member appointed by the Minority 

6 Leader of the Senate. 

7 (5) One member appointed by the Minority 

8 Leader of the House of Representatives. 

9 (6) One member appointed by the Secretary of 

10 State 

11 (b) TERMS OF OFFICE.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each member shall be ap13 pointed for the life of the Commission. 

14 (2) SPECIAL RULE.—A member who is ap15 pointed to the Commission and who subsequently be16 comes an officer or employee of any government may 

17 not continue as a member. 

18 (c) VACANCIES.—A vacancy in the Commission shall 

19 be filled in the manner in which the original appointment 

20 was made. 

21 (d) CHAIRPERSON.—The Chairperson of the Com22 mission shall be elected by the members after consultation 

23 with the Speaker and minority leader of the House of Rep24 resentatives and the majority leader and minority leader 
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1 of the Senate. Pending such election, a provisional Chair2 person shall be designated by the President. 

3 (e) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member shall receive 

4 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 

5 in accordance with sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, 

6 United States Code. 

7 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR AND STAFF. 

8 (a) DIRECTOR.—The Commission shall appoint a Di9 rector who shall be paid at the rate of basic pay for level 

10 IV of the Executive Schedule under section 5315 of title 

11 5, United States Code. 

12 (b) STAFF.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

14 the Director, with the approval of the Commission, 

15 may appoint and fix the pay of additional personnel. 

16 (2) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

17 LAWS.—The Director may make such appointments 

18 subject to the provisions of title 5, United States 

19 Code, governing appointments in the competitive 

20 service, and any personnel so appointed shall be paid 

21 in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and 

22 subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title relating to 

23 classification and General Schedule pay rates. 

24 (c) STAFF OF FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Upon request 

25 of the Commission, the head of any Federal department 
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1 or agency may detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 

2 personnel of that department or agency to the Commission 

3 to assist it in carrying out its duties under this Act. 

4 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—Upon 

5 the request of the Commission, the Administrator of Gen6 eral Services shall provide to the Commission, on a reim7 bursable basis, the administrative support services nec8 essary for the Commission to carry out its duties under 

9 this Act. 

10 SEC. 6. POWERS OF COMMISSION. 

11 (a) MEETINGS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall meet 

13 at the call of the Chairperson. 

14 (2) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

15 the Commission shall constitute a quorum but a 

16 lesser number may hold hearings. 

17 (b) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

18 may secure directly from any department or agency of the 

19 United States information necessary to enable it to carry 

20 out this Act. Upon request of the Commission, the head 

21 of that department or agency shall furnish that informa22 tion to the Commission. 

23 (c) MAILS.—The Commission may use the United 

24 States mails in the same manner and under the same con-
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1 ditions as other departments and agencies of the United 

2 States. 

3 SEC. 7. REPORTS. 

4 (a) INTERIM REPORT.—Within 6 months after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall 

6 submit to Congress an interim report on the activities of 

7 the Commission under this Act. 

8 (b) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 12 months after 

9 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 

10 shall submit to Congress a final report containing a state11 ment of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations 

12 of the Commission. 

13 SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 

14 The Commission shall terminate 15 days after sub15 mission of its final report under section 7(b). 

16 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) CHARTER.—The term ‘‘Charter’’ means the 

19 Charter of the United Nations. 

20 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

21 means the National Commission on the Moderniza22 tion of the United Nations. 

23 (3) MEMBER.—The term ‘‘member’’ means a 

24 member of the Commission.

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