III 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 185 

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding reform of the United Nations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 1 (legislative day, JUNE 30), 2005 

Mr. SMITH (for himself and Mr. NELSON of Florida) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding reform of the 

United Nations.

Whereas, on July 28, 1945, the Senate approved the resolution advising and consenting to the ratification of the 

Charter of the United Nations by a vote of 89 to 2; 

Whereas recent events, including the United Nations oil-forfood scandal and sexual misconduct by United Nations 

peacekeepers, have led to declining public confidence in 

the United Nations; 

Whereas there is broad international agreement that the 

United Nations must reform its existing policies, practices, and institutions in order to better manage the interests of its 191 members and address the current 

threats to international peace and security; 
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•SRES 185 IS

Whereas the future direction of the United Nations has recently been addressed in the report of the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and 

Change, issued on December 2, 2004, the report of the 

Secretary-General entitled ‘‘In Larger Freedom: Toward 

Development, Security and Human Rights for All’’, 

issued on March 21, 2005, and the report of the congressionally mandated Task Force on the United Nations, 

convened by the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), 

entitled ‘‘American Interests and UN Reform’’, issued on 

June 15, 2005; 

Whereas these reports call for comprehensive reform of the 

United Nations, including overhauling basic management 

practices and building a more transparent, accountable, 

efficient, and effective organization; 

Whereas these reports highlight the deficiencies in the United 

Nations human rights bodies, in particular the practice 

of allowing countries that have violated human rights to 

sit on United Nations bodies that were established to 

monitor, promote, and enforce human rights; 

Whereas these reports highlight many serious problems with 

the United Nations peacekeeping operations that need to 

be addressed while the peacekeepers are deployed in critical situations around the world; 

Whereas these reports discuss the question of United Nations 

Security Council reform in an attempt to increase the effectiveness and credibility of the Security Council and to 

enhance its capacity and willingness to act in the face of 

threats; 

Whereas the USIP Task Force emphasized the importance 

that any reform of the United Nations Security Council 
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must enhance its effectiveness and not in any way detract 

from the Security Council’s efficiency and ability to act 

in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations; 

and 

Whereas the United Nations has an important role to play 

in providing a forum for countries to discuss issues and 

resolve differences and to address the pressing humanitarian issues and security threats of the day: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) declares that a credible, effective, and re3 formed United Nations can play an important role 

4 in helping promote global peace and security; 

5 (2) reaffirms that reform of the United Nations 

6 Security Council would necessitate a revision of the 

7 Charter of the United Nations, which would con8 stitute a treaty revision requiring an affirmative vote 

9 in the Senate by a two-thirds majority; 

10 (3) states that the United Nations and its sub11 sidiary bodies and agencies must be reformed, re12 focused, and made more efficient, and must become 

13 more transparent and more accountable; 

14 (4) declares that oversight of the United Na15 tions must be improved, that the management sys16 tems and budgeting processes of the institution must 

17 be updated and modified, and that protections for 
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1 whistleblowers employed by the United Nations must 

2 be implemented; 

3 (5) states that the United Nations Human 

4 Rights Commission should be abolished and replaced 

5 by a United Nations Human Rights Council or other 

6 body composed of governments that are committed 

7 to upholding human rights; 

8 (6) declares that the reforms described above 

9 must be implemented before the Senate will consider 

10 changes to the Charter of the United Nations that 

11 require the advice and consent of the Senate; and 

12 (7) urges the Secretary of State— 

13 (A) to provide the Senate the Secretary of 

14 State’s recommendations for reform of the 

15 United Nations; and 

16 (B) to consult fully and regularly with the 

17 Senate as deliberations on United Nations re18 form progress.

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