III 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 796 

Recognizing the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2020 

Mr. BOOKER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing the 75th anniversary of the establishment of 

the United Nations. 

Whereas President Franklin Delano Roosevelt coined the 

phrase ‘‘United Nations’’ in January 1942; 

Whereas 50 countries met in San Francisco to draw up the 

Charter of the United Nations in 1945; 

Whereas, on June 26, 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco at the conclusion of 

the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on October 24, 1945; 

Whereas, June 26, 2020, marked the 75th anniversary of the 

establishment of the United Nations; 

Whereas, on September 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of 


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Human Rights, which is the cornerstone for modern-day 

human rights and the world’s most translated document; 

Whereas, in September 1960, 17 newly independent countries, including 16 from Africa, joined the United Nations, marking the biggest increase in membership in any 

one year; 

Whereas the United Nations has greatly contributed to international peace and security; 

Whereas the United Nations has provided a forum for the 

achievement of international cooperation to address international economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian 

problems, including promoting cooperation on climate 

change, supporting human rights, and combating human 

trafficking; 

Whereas, since 1948, the United Nations has deployed 71 

peacekeeping and observation missions to some of the 

world’s most complex regions and countries; 

Whereas the United Nations peacekeeping missions have been 

charged with mandates to stabilize conflict zones after a 

cease-fire, assist in the implementation of comprehensive 

peace agreements, protect civilians from violence, facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance to vulnerable 

communities, and create stable governing institutions in 

fragile states; 

Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers played an instrumental role in stabilizing Liberia following two devastating civil wars, paving the way in 2018 for the first 

peaceful transition of power between democratically elected Presidents in the country since 1944; 

Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers helped to avert a 

genocide in the Central African Republic, continue to 


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protect tens of thousands of civilians from ethnic and political violence in South Sudan, provide security to health 

workers battling the second largest Ebola outbreak in 

history in eastern Congo, and play an important role in 

ensuring that calm and stability prevail along the IsraelLebanon border; 

Whereas, in 2006, under the leadership of the United Nations, member nations adopted the first-ever global strategy to counter terrorism, which was followed by other 

global agreements, including agreements against hostage 

taking, aircraft hijacking, terrorism bombings, and terrorism financing; 

Whereas the United States has used its permanent seat on 

the United Nations Security Council to push for the 

adoption of multilateral sanctions, including asset freezes, 

travel bans, arms embargoes, trade restrictions, and 

other measures, against terrorist organizations like alQaida and ISIS, rogue states that seek to obtain weapons 

of mass destruction like North Korea, and countries embroiled by internal armed conflict such as South Sudan; 

Whereas the United Nations has provided electoral assistance 

to more than 100 countries and helped facilitate the 

transition to democracy in these countries, observing 

landmark elections in Cambodia, El Salvador, South Africa, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Iraq, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone; 

Whereas the United Nations adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015, requiring member 

nations to commit to eradicating extreme poverty, fighting inequality, empowering women and girls, protecting 

natural resources, improving governance, and encouraging sustainable and inclusive economic growth; 


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Whereas the United Nations has played a critical role in improving global public health, including through the Joint 

United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS; 

Whereas the World Health Organization, a United Nations 

specialized agency, serves as a multilateral coordinating 

body responsible for monitoring and leading the response 

to outbreaks of infectious disease, spearheading vaccination efforts, and developing campaigns to combat lifethreatening illnesses like polio and malaria; 

Whereas the World Health Organization played a central role 

in the eradication of smallpox in 1979, to date the only 

human disease ever to be eradicated; 

Whereas the United Nations Population Fund aims to end 

the unmet need for family planning, end preventable maternal deaths, and end gender-based violence and harmful 

practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation by 2030 in all countries, including those affected 

by conflict and disaster; 

Whereas the United Nations Population Fund has helped reduce maternal mortality by half since 1990; 

Whereas the United Nations Children’s Fund is active in 190 

countries and territories to reach the children and young 

people in greatest need; 

Whereas the United Nations World Food Program reaches 

more than 86,000,000 people in 83 countries annually; 

Whereas the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) seeks to build peace 

through international cooperation in education, the 

sciences, and culture, and is preserving 1,073 World Heritage sites in 167 countries; 


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Whereas today, with global population displacement at the 

highest level recorded since World War II, the World 

Food Program, together with the United Nations High 

Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Children’s 

Fund, and other United Nations agencies, is feeding, 

clothing, and sheltering millions from Syria, Iraq, the 

Central African Republic, and numerous other countries; 

Whereas the ongoing COVID–19 crisis highlights the need 

for strong and collective multilateral action; 

Whereas, since the beginning of the global COVID–19 pandemic, the entire United Nations system has been hard 

at work: The World Health Organization (WHO) is on 

the ground in over 140 countries helping countries scaleup testing and access essential personal protective equipment, while also coordinating research and innovation efforts to advance drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics; the UN 

Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is scaling up assistance to 

refugee camps; UNICEF is supporting the millions of 

children who are out of school; the UN Population Fund 

(UNFPA) is strengthening health systems to ensure reproductive and maternal health care; the World Food 

Programme (WFP) has established air hubs to distribute 

vital food and medical supplies across Africa; and United 

Nations peacekeeping missions are using troop patrols to 

educate on mitigation measures. 

Whereas, in Yemen, which has been on the brink of famine 

for several years and where 80 percent of the population 

relies on humanitarian aid to survive, United Nations 

agencies are working to reach 12,000,000 people each 

month with food and nutritional assistance, respond to a 

cholera epidemic that has sickened nearly 1,000,000 people since January 2018, rehabilitate irrigation systems 


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and provide agricultural inputs to increase domestic food 

production, and provide reproductive health care and safe 

delivery services to women; 

Whereas the United Nations Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is working to broker a diplomatic solution 

to the conflict and organized the first direct talks between the Government of Yemen and Houthis in December 2018, resulting in an agreement for a cease-fire and 

military redeployment from the port of Hodeidah; 

Whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights plays a leading role in helping 

to elevate and advance human rights throughout the 

world; 

Whereas, in recent years, the Office of the High Commissioner has aided efforts to uncover and report on abuses 

in Syria, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, 

Yemen, Myanmar, Iraq, Belarus, and a host of other 

countries; 

Whereas these types of activities help raise public awareness 

of human rights violations, magnify the voices of dissidents and civil society organizations on the ground, and 

provide a tool for pressuring repressive governments and 

holding abusers accountable; 

Whereas United Nations Secretary-General Anto ́nio Guterres 

has implemented key reforms, and continues to be committed to instituting necessary reforms to improve the effectiveness of the United Nations and strengthen oversight; 

Whereas 2020 marks the start of the decade of action and 

delivery for the Sustainable Development Goals, major 

conferences on climate change, biodiversity, nuclear nonVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Dec 09, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR796.IS SR796

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proliferation, and health, the 25th anniversary of the 

landmark Beijing World Conference on Women, the 20th 

anniversary of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, and the 10th anniversary of United Nations 

Women, among others; 

Whereas the United Nations remains an indispensable partner for the United States as Congress works to protect 

United States national security and foreign policy interests around the world; 

Whereas the United Nations conducts business with numerous United States corporations and organizations and annually awards United States businesses with over 

$1,000,000,000 in contracts; 

Whereas these contracts were executed in 30 States and more 

than 100 cities and communities, benefitting hundreds of 

Americans who work to provide the United Nations a 

range of critical goods and services, including telecommunications, construction, food production, and military supplies; and 

Whereas the participation and leadership by the United 

States in the United Nations is essential to securing 

United States interests in international peace and security: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes the 75th anniversary of the es3 tablishment of the United Nations; 

4 (2) recognizes the United Nations for the crit5 ical role it plays in maintaining international peace 

6 and security; 


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1 (3) applauds the United Nations for its leader2 ship and ongoing efforts in addressing global health 

3 crises, including the global fight against HIV/AIDS; 

4 (4) applauds the United Nations for its re5 sponse to unprecedented humanitarian crises that 

6 have resulted in staggering escalation of displace7 ments and suffering in countries such as Yemen, 

8 Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, the Central Afri9 can Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the 

10 Congo; 

11 (5) commends the United Nations for its com12 mitment to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; 

13 and 

14 (6) urges the President to issue a proclamation 

15 calling on the people of the United States to observe 

16 the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the 

17 United Nations with appropriate ceremonies and ac18 tivities. 

Æ 


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