IV
104TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. RES. 152
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the President
should develop a strategy to bring the United States back into active
and full membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MAY 17, 1995
Mr. TORRES submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
the President should develop a strategy to bring the
United States back into active and full membership in
the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organization.
Whereas the House of Representatives recognizes that the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Or-
ganization (UNESCO) was created in 1946 as an inte-
gral part of the United Nations system, designed to pro-
mote international cooperation and exchanges in the
fields of education, science, culture, and communication
with the larger purpose of constructing ‘‘the defenses of
peace’’ against intolerance and incitements to war;
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Whereas in 1984 the United States withdrew from the orga-
nization over questions of internal management and polit-
ical polarization;
Whereas in 1993 the General Accounting Office, after con-
ducting an extensive review of the organization’s activi-
ties, reported to the Congress that UNESCO has imple-
mented changes to remedy the problems cited by the
United States as reasons for its withdrawal in 1984;
Whereas the interagency review undertaken with all relevant
Federal departments and agencies in 1993 concluded
unanimously in a report to the President that, in the
President’s words, ‘‘UNESCO’s current programs pro-
vide valuable services in a range of fields that reinforce
our Nation’s foreign policy agenda’’;
Whereas the organization’s current and projected plans offer
means for advancing the foreign policy interests of the
United States in promoting democracy, sustainable devel-
opment, and tolerance in order to prevent ethnic, na-
tional, and religious conflicts;
Whereas the four interrelated areas of expertise of the orga-
nization, which are education, science, culture, and com-
munication, represent important areas of American com-
petitive advantage, and participation in global programs
and policymaking in these fields advances the interests of
the United States;
Whereas UNESCO-related United States policy interests in-
clude reducing illiteracy and improving education, includ-
ing education for immigrant populations coming from
other nations and cultures, increasing tolerance among
ethnic and racial minority groups, protecting cultural
freedom and the free flow of information, widening access
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to communications technology markets in developing
countries by American businesses, providing broader
channels for international collaboration on scientific re-
search, and understanding environmental change and
preservation;
Whereas multilateral initiatives in such politically sensitive
activities offer advantages and prospects for success in
many countries that cannot be easily realized by bilateral
initiatives;
Whereas the United States is unable to participate fully in
the important policy-setting work of most UNESCO bod-
ies notwithstanding that it remains engaged in some
UNESCO programs, such as the International Oceano-
graphic Commission and the Man and the Biosphere;
Whereas it ill serves the United States to pursue an isolation-
ist course in education, science, culture, and communica-
tion; and
Whereas the President has declared that the sole impediment
to full reengagement by the United States as a member
state of UNESCO is budgetary: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that—
(1) the United Nations Educational, Scientific,
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has satisfac-
torily overcome the problems cited by the United
States as the reasons for its withdrawal from the or-
ganization in 1984;
(2) UNESCO’s mission in promoting inter-
national cooperation in the intellectual sectors is in-
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trinsically important to promoting the ‘‘defenses of
peace’’; and
(3) the President should—
(A) develop a strategy to reengage the
United States in UNESCO’s work, with an eye
towards resumption of full membership in the
organization when funding is made available;
(B) direct the Secretary of State—
(i) to consult with government agen-
cies, nongovernmental organizations, and
other interested parties that had substan-
tial involvement with the work of the orga-
nization before the withdrawal of the
United States in order to formulate goals
the United States should seek at the orga-
nization as part of the strategy;
(ii) to reexamine the frameworks es-
tablished in law for the participation of the
American 
nongovernmental 
sector 
in
UNESCO policy and activities; and
(iii) to reconstitute the United States
National Commission for UNESCO;
(C) consult with other governments on
prospects for further reform of the organiza-
tion’s policy bodies and governance, particularly
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with an eye to strengthening in all member
states the role of independent, nongovern-
mental, intellectual sectors in agency programs
and governance; and
(D) report to the Congress before Septem-
ber 30, 1995, on the nature and extent of the
consultations and the progress being made on
the strategy.
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