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[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 185 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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-for-food 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;
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 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
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) declares that a credible, effective, and reformed 
        United Nations can play an important role in helping promote 
        global peace and security;
            (2) reaffirms that reform of the United Nations Security 
        Council would necessitate a revision of the Charter of the 
        United Nations, which would constitute a treaty revision 
        requiring an affirmative vote in the Senate by a two-thirds 
        majority;
            (3) states that the United Nations and its subsidiary 
        bodies and agencies must be reformed, refocused, and made more 
        efficient, and must become more transparent and more 
        accountable;
            (4) declares that oversight of the United Nations must be 
        improved, that the management systems and budgeting processes 
        of the institution must be updated and modified, and that 
        protections for whistleblowers employed by the United Nations 
        must be implemented;
            (5) states that the United Nations Human Rights Commission 
        should be abolished and replaced by a United Nations Human 
        Rights Council or other body composed of governments that are 
        committed to upholding human rights;
            (6) declares that the reforms described above must be 
        implemented before the Senate will consider changes to the 
        Charter of the United Nations that require the advice and 
        consent of the Senate; and
            (7) urges the Secretary of State--
                    (A) to provide the Senate the Secretary of State's 
                recommendations for reform of the United Nations; and
                    (B) to consult fully and regularly with the Senate 
                as deliberations on United Nations reform progress.
                                 <all>
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