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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 42 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 42

Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to withhold United 
 States funding for and participation in the Durban Review Conference 
        and its preparatory activities, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 9, 2009

 Ms. Ros-Lehtinen (for herself, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Burton of 
Indiana, Mr. Rohrabacher, Mr. Royce, Mr. Manzullo, Mr. Wilson of South 
   Carolina, Mr. Poe of Texas, Mr. Bilirakis, and Mr. Garrett of New 
 Jersey) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Calling on the President and the Secretary of State to withhold United 
 States funding for and participation in the Durban Review Conference 
        and its preparatory activities, and for other purposes.

Whereas the United States is opposed to racism, racial discrimination, 
        xenophobia, and related intolerance, and has long been a party to the 
        Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination;
Whereas expensive and politically skewed international conferences can disserve 
        and undermine the worthy goals that they are ostensibly convened to 
        support;
Whereas the goals of the 2001 United Nations World Conference Against Racism--
        held in Durban, South Africa and commonly referred to as the ``Durban 
        Conference''--were undermined by hateful, anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-
        Israel political agendas, prompting both Israel and the United States to 
        withdraw their delegations from the Conference;
Whereas during the preparations leading up to the World Conference Against 
        Racism, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, 
        who served as Secretary-General of the conference, repeatedly failed to 
        publicly condemn efforts by member states of the Organization of the 
        Islamic Conference to single out Israel for criticism and to single out 
        the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for discussion;
Whereas the official government declaration adopted by the World Conference 
        Against Racism, the ``Durban Declaration and Program of Action'', 
        focused on the ``plight of the Palestinian people under foreign 
        occupation'', and thereby singled out one regional conflict for 
        discussion and implicitly launched a false accusation against Israel of 
        racism towards the Palestinians;
Whereas on September 3, 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell explained the 
        withdrawal of the United States delegation by stating that ``you do not 
        combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing 
        hateful language, some of which is a throwback to the days of `Zionism 
        equals racism'; or supports the idea that we have made too much of the 
        Holocaust; or suggests that apartheid exists in Israel; or that singles 
        out only one country in the world--Israel--for censure and abuse'';
Whereas the late United States Representative Tom Lantos, who participated as a 
        member of the United States delegation to the Durban Conference, 
        supported that delegation's withdrawal and wrote in 2002 that the 
        conference ``provided the world with a glimpse into the abyss of 
        international hate, discrimination and, indeed, racism'';
Whereas on December 19, 2006, the United Nations General Assembly approved a 
        resolution initiating preparations for a Durban Review Conference 
        (commonly referred to as ``Durban II'');
Whereas the Durban Review Conference will be held between April 20 and 24, 2009, 
        in Geneva, Switzerland;
Whereas the chair of the preparatory committee for the Durban Review Conference 
        is Libya, and the co-chairs include Iran, Pakistan, and Cuba;
Whereas throughout the preparatory process for the Durban Review Conference, 
        member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference have urged 
        that the conference again focus criticism on Israel and single out the 
        Israeli-Palestinian conflict for discussion;
Whereas throughout the preparatory process for the Durban Review Conference, 
        member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference have also 
        urged that the Durban Review Conference consider global legal codes that 
        would impose restrictions on the freedoms of religion, expression, 
        thought, conscience, the media, and opinion, contrary to fundamental 
        freedoms recognized in the provisions of the Universal Declaration of 
        Human Rights;
Whereas in testimony before the House of Representatives on April 2, 2008, then-
        Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Kristen 
        Silverberg stated that the United States had decided against 
        participating in preparatory activities for the Durban Review Conference 
        because ``[there is] absolutely no case to be made for participating in 
        something that is going to be a repeat of Durban I. We don't have any 
        confidence that this will be any better than Durban I'';
Whereas Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad, United States Permanent Representative to the 
        United Nations, stated on April 8, 2008, that ``we have made clear that 
        the United States is not participating in the [Durban Review Conference] 
        process and we have no plans to do so. We will not participate unless it 
        is proven that the conference will not be used as a platform for anti-
        Semitic behavior'';
Whereas on January 23, 2008, Canada's secretary of state for multiculturalism 
        and Canadian identity, Jason Kenney, announced that Canada would not 
        participate in the Durban Review Conference, stating that ``Canada is 
        interested in combating racism, not promoting it . . . Our considered 
        judgment having participated in the preparatory meetings, was that we 
        were set for the replay of Durban I. And Canada has no intention of 
        lending its good name and resources to such a systematic promotion of 
        hatred and bigotry'';
Whereas on September 23, 2008, the House of Representatives passed House 
        Resolution 1361, which, among other things, called on the President to 
        ``urge other heads of state to condition participation in the 2009 
        Durban Review Conference on concrete action by the United Nations and 
        United Nations Member States to ensure that it is not a forum to 
        demonize any group, or incite anti-Semitism, hatred, or violence against 
        members of any group or to call into question the existence of any 
        state'' and urged all United Nations Member States ``not to support a 
        2009 Durban Review Conference process that fails to adhere to 
        established human rights standards and to reject an agenda that incites 
        hatred against any group in the guise of criticism of a particular 
        government or that seeks to forge a global blasphemy code'';
Whereas the draft declaration or ``draft outcome document'' published at the 
        second preparatory session of the Durban Review Conference in October 
        2008 again implicitly criticized Israel, singled out the Israeli-
        Palestinian conflict for discussion, and advocated global legal codes 
        that impose restrictions on the freedoms of religion, expression, 
        thought, conscience, the media, and opinion;
Whereas in December of 2008, the intersessional working group, chaired by 
        Russia, published on the website of the Office of the United Nations 
        High Commissioner for Human Rights a revised ``draft outcome document'' 
        that reaffirmed the biased 2001 Durban Declaration and Plan of Action 
        ``in its entirety''; ratcheted up implicit criticism of Israel and 
        singling-out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for discussion, and 
        also increased its calls for global legal codes that impose restrictions 
        on the freedoms of religion, expression, thought, conscience, the media, 
        and opinion;
Whereas the present United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and 
        Secretary-General of the 2009 Durban Review Conference, Dr. Navanethem 
        Pillay, has sought to minimize the level of hateful, anti-Jewish 
        rhetoric and anti-Israel political agendas present at the 2001 Durban 
        Conference, describing it as merely ``the virulent anti-Semitic behavior 
        of a few non-governmental organizations on the sidelines'' and praising 
        the biased Durban Declaration and Program of Action as ``[t]he legacy of 
        this Conference'';
Whereas the present High Commissioner Pillay has repeatedly and publicly 
        criticized nations that have announced that they do not plan to 
        participate in the Durban Review Conference or are considering not 
        participating, but she has yet to publicly criticize countries who have 
        thus far succeeded in using the conference's preparatory conference to 
        criticize Israel and to attempt to restrict fundamental freedoms;
Whereas a United Nations press release on September 8, 2008, regarding an 
        address by High Commissioner Pillay, disturbingly dismissed objections 
        raised by non-governmental organizations to the Durban Review Conference 
        as ``ferocious, and often distorted, criticism by certain lobby groups 
        focused on single issues'';
Whereas on November 19, 2008, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni announced 
        that Israel would not participate in the Durban Review Conference and 
        called on other nations ``not to participate in the conference, which 
        seeks to legitimize hatred and racism'';
Whereas on December 16, 2008, Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen announced 
        that the Netherlands was considering not participating in the Durban 
        Review Conference, stating ``It seems like the sole intention is to 
        criticize Israel and condemn the West for slavery and its colonial 
        history . . . We will take every opportunity at this time to fight 
        racism and discrimination but we will not be used for a propaganda 
        circus'';
Whereas to date, over $2,000,000 from the United Nations regular budget has been 
        expended on Durban Review Conference preparatory activities, and on 
        December 24, 2008, the United Nations General Assembly approved a 
        program budget for the biennium 2008-2009 that, over the objections of 
        the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, and other 
        prominent Member States, will provide a significant portion of the 
        funding for the Durban Review Conference and its preparatory activities 
        from the United Nations regular budget;
Whereas the United States is the largest contributor to the United Nations 
        system, and is assessed for a full 22 percent of the United Nations 
        regular budget, which is funded by assessed contributions from Member 
        States;
Whereas funding Durban Review Conference activities through the United Nations 
        regular budget would result in United States taxpayer dollars being used 
        for those purposes;
Whereas the United States decided to withhold from its 2008 funding for the 
        United Nations regular budget an amount equivalent to the United States 
        share of the United Nations Human Rights Council budget, including its 
        share of the Council-administered preparatory process for the 2009 
        Durban Review Conference;
Whereas the preparation and management of the Durban Review Conference has been 
        committed to the United Nations Human Rights Council; and
Whereas during the 110th Congress the House of Representatives approved a 
        prohibition on United States funding for the United Nations Human Rights 
        Council, and has strongly condemned the Council for ignoring severe 
        human rights issues in other countries, while choosing to unfairly 
        target the State of Israel: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) reaffirms the fundamental commitment of the United 
        States to combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, 
        and related intolerance;
            (2) believes strongly that the 2009 Durban Review 
        Conference, like its 2001 predecessor, has been subverted by 
        members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and 
        irredeemably distorted into a forum for anti-Israel and anti-
        Semitic activity;
            (3) urges the President and the Secretary of State to build 
        upon present United States policy by publicly declaring that 
        the United States will not fund or participate in any portion 
        of the Durban Review Conference or its preparatory activities;
            (4) urges the President and the Secretary of State to 
        withhold from United States funding for the United Nations 
        regular budget an amount equivalent to the United States share 
        of assessed contributions for the Durban Review Conference and 
        its preparatory activities;
            (5) urges the President and the Secretary of State to lead 
        a high-level diplomatic effort to encourage other responsible 
        nations to not fund or participate in any portion of the Durban 
        Review Conference or its preparatory activities;
            (6) commends the governments of Canada and Israel for 
        publicly refusing to fund or participate in the Durban Review 
        Conference; and
            (7) calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to 
        lead a high-level diplomatic effort to explore credible, 
        alternative forums for combating racism, racial discrimination, 
        xenophobia, and related intolerance.
                                 <all>
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