IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 653 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the concept of 
nonviolence and the teachings of Gandhi remain relevant and instructive 
in today’s world and the United States should take an active role in 
disseminating the message of nonviolence through education and public 
awareness. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 
Mr. MCDERMOTT (for himself and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Over-
sight and Government Reform 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the concept of nonviolence and the teachings of Gandhi 
remain relevant and instructive in today’s world and 
the United States should take an active role in dissemi-
nating the message of nonviolence through education and 
public awareness. 
Whereas peace is a vision and nonviolence is a strategy; 
Whereas nonviolence was most famously instrumental in the 
struggle for Indian independence and the civil rights 
movement in the United States; 
Whereas nonviolence has been advocated in some form by 
many of the great leaders of the 20th Century, including 
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•HRES 653 IH 
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Cha-
vez, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Einstein, and Dorothy Day, 
among others; 
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 
this decade (2001 through 2010) as the International 
Decade for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace and 
Non-Violence for the Children of the World on November 
10, 1998; 
Whereas representatives from 90 countries and 122 organiza-
tions adopted a declaration commemorating the Cen-
tenary of the Satyagraha Movement launched by Ma-
hatma Gandhi at the International Conference on Peace, 
Nonviolence and Empowerment—Gandhian Philosophy in 
the 21st Century in New Delhi, India in January, 2007; 
Whereas the representatives at the conference vowed to ‘‘nur-
ture the values espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, to pursue 
Truth, to privilege peace and reject violence in all our ac-
tivities, to respect diverse viewpoints, and to practice the 
philosophy of Nonviolence to win over the forces of vio-
lence and injustice through tolerance, empathy and 
love.’’; 
Whereas the declaration adopted by the conference appeals to 
the United Nations to declare Mahatma Gandhi’s date of 
birth, October 2, as International Nonviolence Day; 
Whereas, on June 15, 2007, the United Nations unanimously 
passed a resolution to observe October 2nd as an Inter-
national Day of Non-Violence; and 
Whereas the United States was a cosponsor of this United 
Nations resolution: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
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•HRES 653 IH 
(1) the concept of nonviolence and the teachings 
of Gandhi remain relevant and instructive in today’s 
world; 
(2) the United States should take an active role 
in disseminating the message of nonviolence through 
education and public awareness; and 
(3) the President should issue a proclamation 
calling on the American people to observe the Inter-
national Day of Non-Violence with appropriate cere-
monies and activities. 
Æ 
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