IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1024 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 25, 2020 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. BASS, 

Mr. COSTA, Mr. CASE, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. GARAMENDI, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

COHEN, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. WILD, Mr. TRONE, Ms. 

MENG, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. RASKIN, and Mr. 

HUFFMAN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

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, marks the 75th anniversary of the 

establishment of the United Nations; 


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

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 in some of the 

world’s most complex regions and countries, including in 

Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Liberia, Cote 

d’Ivoire, Kosovo, Mozambique, Namibia, Tajikistan, and 

Timor-Leste; 

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 the creation of stable governing institutions in fragile states; 

Whereas the United Nations peacekeepers played an instrumental role in stabilizing Liberia following two devVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR1024.IH HR1024

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astating 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 

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 and subsequently 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, ISIS, and rogue states that seek to obtain weapons of mass destruction, like North Korea; 

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; 


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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; 

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 

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; 


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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 to Iraq to the 

Central African Republic and beyond; 

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 

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 Yemeni Government 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; 


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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 nonproliferation 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 

our national security and foreign policy interests around 

the world; 

Whereas the United Nations conducts business with numerous United States corporations and organizations and in 

2014 awarded United States businesses with 

$555,500,000 in contracts; 

Whereas these contracts were executed in 30 States and more 

than 100 cities and communities, benefiting hundreds of 

Americans who work to provide the United Nations a 

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communications, 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 House of Representatives— 

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; 

7 (3) applauds the United Nations for its leader8 ship and ongoing efforts in addressing global health 

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

10 (4) applauds the United Nations for its re11 sponse to unprecedented humanitarian crises that 

12 have resulted in staggering escalation of displace13 ments and suffering in countries such as Yemen, 

14 Syria, Iraq, South Sudan, Somalia, Central African 

15 Republic, and Democratic Republic of the Congo; 

16 (5) commends the United Nations for its com17 mitment to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; 

18 and 

19 (6) urges the President to issue a proclamation 

20 calling on the people of the United States to observe 


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1 the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the 

2 United Nations with appropriate ceremonies and ac3 tivities. 

Æ 


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