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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 253 Engrossed in House (EH)]

  2d Session

                            H. CON. RES. 253

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

 Expressing the sense of the Congress strongly objecting to any effort 
to expel the Holy See from the United Nations as a state participant by 
              removing its status as a Permanent Observer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 253

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Whereas the Holy See is the governing authority of the sovereign state of 
        Vatican City;
Whereas the Holy See has an internationally recognized legal personality that 
        allows it to enter into treaties as the juridical equal of a state and 
        to send and receive diplomatic representatives;
Whereas the diplomatic history of the Holy See began over 1,600 years ago, 
        during the 4th century A.D., and the Holy See currently has formal 
        diplomatic relations with 169 nations, including the United States, and 
        maintains 179 permanent diplomatic missions abroad;
Whereas, although the Holy See was an active participant in a wide range of 
        United Nations activities since 1946 and was eligible to become a member 
        state of the United Nations, it chose instead to become a nonmember 
        state with Permanent Observer status over 35 years ago, in 1964;
Whereas, unlike the governments of other geographically small countries such as 
        Monaco, Nauru, San Marino, and Liechtenstein, the Holy See does not 
        possess a vote in the General Assembly of the United Nations;
Whereas, according to a July 1998 assessment by the United States Department of 
        State, ``[t]he United States values the Holy See's significant 
        contributions to international peace and human rights'';
Whereas during the past year certain organizations that oppose the views of the 
        Holy See regarding the sanctity of human life and the value of the 
        family as the basic unit of society have initiated an organized effort 
        to pressure the United Nations to remove the Permanent Observer status 
        of the Holy See; and
Whereas the removal of the Holy See's Permanent Observer status would constitute 
        an expulsion of the Holy See from the United Nations as a state 
        participant: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) commends the Holy See for its strong commitment to 
        fundamental human rights, including the protection of innocent 
        human life both before and after birth, during its 36 years as 
        a Permanent Observer at the United Nations;
            (2) strongly objects to any effort to expel the Holy See 
        from the United Nations as a state participant by removing its 
        status as a nonmember state Permanent Observer;
            (3) believes that any degradation of the status accorded to 
        the Holy See at the United Nations would seriously damage the 
        credibility of the United Nations by demonstrating that its 
        rules of participation are manipulable for ideological reasons 
        rather than being rooted in neutral principles and objective 
        facts of sovereignty; and
            (4) expresses the concern that any such degradation of the 
        status accorded to the Holy See would seriously damage 
        relations between the United Nations and member states that 
        find in the Holy See a moral and ethical presence with which 
        they can work effectively in pursuing humanitarian approaches 
        to international problems.

            Passed the House of Representatives July 11, 2000.

            Attest:

                                                                 Clerk.
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