IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 213 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that a United Nations 

Emergency Peace Service capable of intervening in the early stages 

of a humanitarian crisis could save millions of lives, billions of dollars, 

and is in the interests of the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 5, 2007 

Mr. WYNN (for himself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. WALSH of New York, 

Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

a United Nations Emergency Peace Service capable of 

intervening in the early stages of a humanitarian crisis 

could save millions of lives, billions of dollars, and is 

in the interests of the United States. 

Whereas genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity 

have occurred in Rwanda, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, East Timor, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Liberia, and elsewhere; 

Whereas the United States Government has found that genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity are occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan; 


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•HRES 213 IH 

Whereas, at the September 2005 World Summit, the Member 

States of the United Nations declared that the international community has a responsibility to protect these 

populations when countries are unable or unwilling to 

prevent genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; 

Whereas, at the 2005 World Summit, over 150 heads of state 

signed a document which the United Nations General Assembly adopted, declaring that ‘‘we are prepared to take 

collective action, in a timely and decisive manner, 

through the Security Council . . . should peaceful means 

be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to 

protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity.’’; 

Whereas failed and failing states can become breeding 

grounds for terrorism, crime, trafficking, humanitarian 

catastrophes, and other threats to the United States; 

Whereas the 2006 National Security Strategy clearly states 

that preventing humanitarian disasters and strengthening 

fragile states is in the national security interests of the 

United States; 

Whereas numerous studies have shown that early intervention 

in humanitarian crises could save millions of lives and 

billions of dollars; 

Whereas the international community spent approximately 

$200,000,000,000 on conflict management during the 

1990s; 

Whereas approximately $130,000,000,000 of that amount 

could have been saved through a more effective preventive approach to conflict management; 


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•HRES 213 IH 

Whereas the United Nations does not have a rapid deployment capacity to intervene to avert humanitarian catastrophes; 

Whereas there is a need for a United Nations Emergency 

Peace Service (UNEPS) that could be rapidly deployed 

during the early stages of a humanitarian crisis to save 

lives; 

Whereas UNEPS could assist in the early implementation of 

peace accords by providing a ready reserve corps that 

could be deployed immediately; 

Whereas UNEPS would complement, but not replace, existing peace operations of the United Nations, regional organizations, and national governments; 

Whereas, if UNEPS had existed at the time that the Government of Sudan and the rebels in Darfur signed the May 

2006 Darfur Peace Agreement, UNEPS could have been 

quickly deployed to cement peace before it unraveled and 

prevented the loss and displacement of thousands of individuals; 

Whereas, if ongoing ethnic and sectarian mass killings and 

crimes against humanity continue to occur in Iraq and if 

the Iraqi Government does not have the capacity to protect its citizens from these crimes, then all members of 

the international community, should, through the United 

Nations, exercise their mutual responsibility to protect 

the citizens of Iraq; 

Whereas, if the Security Council and the Iraqi Government 

identified the need for a peacekeeping force to guarantee 

a negotiated agreement between factions in Iraq and 

UNEPS existed, a UNEPS force could be quickly deployed to seize the opportunity and help facilitate the imVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:05 Mar 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR213.IH HR213

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plementation of that agreement in advance of a traditional United Nations peacekeeping force or as a surge 

capacity to buttress peacekeepers already in place; and 

Whereas UNEPS could be created for a start-up cost of 

$2,000,000,000 and annual costs of less than 

$1,000,000,000: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the United States should use its voice, vote, 

4 and influence at the United Nations to facilitate and 

5 support the creation of a United Nations Emergency 

6 Peace Service (UNEPS); and 

7 (2) UNEPS— 

8 (A) should be a permanent entity based at 

9 designated sites of the United Nations, should 

10 include mobile field headquarters, and should be 

11 able to act immediately to address an emerging 

12 humanitarian crisis; 

13 (B) should be comprised of individuals who 

14 are recruited from United Nations Member 

15 States and who are carefully selected, expertly 

16 trained, and coherently organized; 

17 (C) should be a dedicated service with a 

18 wide range of professional skills within a single 

19 command structure, prepared to conduct mulVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:05 Mar 07, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR213.IH HR213

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1 tiple functions in diverse United Nations oper2 ations; and 

3 (D) should be able to provide an integrated 

4 service encompassing 12,000 to 18,000 civilian, 

5 police, judicial, military, and relief profes6 sionals. 

Æ 


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