[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 109 Referred in House (RFH)]
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 109
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 7, 2004
Referred to the Committee on International Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Commending the United States Institute of Peace on the occasion of its
20th anniversary and recognizing the Institute for its contribution to
international conflict resolution.
Whereas the United States Institute of Peace (the Institute) was established by
Congress in 1984 as an independent, nonpartisan Federal institution
dedicated to the prevention, management, and peaceful resolution of
international conflict;
Whereas the Institute fulfills its mandate from Congress through programs and
projects that support peacemaking and the peaceful resolution of
conflict abroad;
Whereas the Institute's broad congressional mandate has allowed the Institute to
become a valued source of innovative ideas and practical policy analysis
on peacemaking in zones of conflict around the world, thereby enhancing
United States foreign policy;
Whereas the Institute is the result of long-term public interest and dedication
from Senator Spark Matsunaga of Hawaii, Senator Jennings Randolph of
West Virginia, Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon, Senator Nancy Kassebaum
of Kansas, Senator Claiborne Pell of Rhode Island, Representative Pat
Williams of Montana, Representative Dante Fascell of Florida,
Representative Dan Glickman of Kansas, Representative John Porter of
Illinois, as well as Members of Congress today;
Whereas the Institute trains thousands of government officials, military and law
enforcement personnel, humanitarian workers, and civic activists from
the United States and abroad in the skills of professional peacemaking;
Whereas the Institute works to alleviate religious and ethnic strife through
mediation, training programs, research, and opening of dialogue between
and among religious factions;
Whereas the Institute promotes the development of the rule of law in post-
conflict and transitional societies and provides assistance on
constitution-drafting, judicial and police reform, law revision, and war
crimes accountability;
Whereas the Institute examines the role of the media in international conflict
including incitement and freedom of the press;
Whereas the Institute attracts new generations to the practice of peacemaking
and has funded more than 150 graduate students as Peace Scholars
specializing in the resolution and management of international conflict;
Whereas the Institute brings together practitioners and scholars from around the
world as fellows in the distinguished Jennings Randolph Fellows Program
to advance knowledge and to publish reports and books on topics related
to the peaceful resolution of international conflict;
Whereas the Institute has trained hundreds of teachers and enhanced curricular
materials related to international conflict, and has conducted
educational seminars for thousands of educators at schools and
universities around the country;
Whereas the Institute is strengthening curricula and instruction, from high
school through graduate school, on the changing character of
international conflict and nonviolent approaches to managing
international disputes and has inspired the creation of dozens of
courses and programs dedicated to these topics;
Whereas the Institute has made more than 1,500 grants totaling nearly
$50,000,000 to individuals and nonprofit organizations in 48 States in
support of educational, training, and research projects that have helped
define and build the field of conflict prevention and conflict
management in more than 64 foreign countries;
Whereas the Institute contributes to the advancement of conflict resolution
education by awarding college scholarships to high school students
through the annual National Peace Essay Contest, training and developing
teaching guides for high school teachers, awarding grants to university
students pursuing doctoral degrees in international conflict resolution,
and awarding grants to universities and professors in the United States
researching international conflict resolution;
Whereas the Institute works to bridge the divide with the Muslim world and
facilitate cross cultural dialogue around the world, including in Russia
and China;
Whereas the Institute's Balkans Initiative has made positive contributions to
peacebuilding in that region including the facilitation of the
Roundtable on Justice and Reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
wherein key officials of the 3 ethnic groups--Croats, Serbs, and
Muslims--came together to discuss war crimes;
Whereas the Institute has provided assistance to the Afghan judicial system by
helping to locate, reproduce, translate, and distribute copies of
Afghanistan's legal code, which was destroyed by the Taliban and
facilitated discussions among the key institutions in the administration
of criminal law and justice in Afghanistan;
Whereas the Institute assisted President Nelson Mandela with the development of
South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission that was instrumental
in preventing post-apartheid bloodshed;
Whereas the Institute developed a detailed plan to handle accountability in the
wake of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which became the basis for Rwandan
Genocide Law, and assisted the Government of Rwanda in the
implementation of the Law;
Whereas the Institute continues to work on the formation of a formal Israeli-
Palestinian Joint Legal Committee to address legal issues and develop
common approaches between the 2 different legal systems;
Whereas the Institute is committed to supporting religious coexistence and
understanding in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world;
Whereas the Institute has served as advisor and principal financial supporter of
the Alexandria process, a group of prominent Muslim, Jewish, and
Christian leaders from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Egypt, who
in January 2002 produced the ``Alexandria Declaration'', a 7-point
statement that calls, in the name of the 3 Abrahamic faiths, for the end
to bloodshed in the Holy Land;
Whereas the Institute uses its convening power to bring together policymakers
and experts on North Korea to discuss issues of security and
proliferation on the Korean peninsula and develop policy
recommendations;
Whereas the Institute is facilitating peace negotiations between the Government
of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front--a Muslim
insurgent group operating in the southern island of Mindanao;
Whereas the Institute is organizing programs in Iraq to strengthen the pillars
of civil society and to contribute to stabilization and post-conflict
peacebuilding, including training in conflict resolution for Iraqi
security officials, orientation training for personnel from the United
States, grantmaking to Iraqi organizations, collaboration with Iraqi
universities, support for interethnic and interreligious dialogue, and
assistance with rule of law issues; and
Whereas the Institute endeavors with the support of Congress in a public-private
partnership to build a permanent headquarters on the National Mall as a
working center on peace, education, training in conflict management
skills, and the promotion of applied programs dedicated to resolution of
international conflict: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring),
That Congress--
(1) recognizes the importance of the founding of the United
States Institute of Peace (the Institute) as a national and
international resource for peaceful conflict management and
looks forward to continuing to gain from its knowledge,
teaching, and practical applications of conflict management as
a way to promote United States security and peace in the world;
(2) recognizes that the Institute has become an important
national resource for educational, training, and applied
programs in the prevention, management, and resolution of
international conflict;
(3) acknowledges the Institute's contribution to building
the Nation's capabilities for the prevention, management, and
resolution of international conflict and the advancement of
peace and conflict resolution education;
(4) expresses appreciation to the founding men and women of
the Institute and the support from the people of the United
States;
(5) congratulates the Institute on its 20th anniversary and
on its achievements in fulfilling its mandate from Congress;
and
(6) directs the Secretary of the Senate to make available
an enrolled copy of this resolution to the Institute.
Passed the Senate July 22, 2004.
Attest:
EMILY J. REYNOLDS,
Secretary.