Full Text of SJR0095 94th General Assembly
SJ0095 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, On September 16, 2005 at the World Summit Outcome | 3 |
| of the United Nations General Assembly, the United States of | 4 |
| America and the other Members of the United Nations embraced | 5 |
| the principle of the responsibility to protect according to | 6 |
| which, "(e)ach individual State has the responsibility to | 7 |
| protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic | 8 |
| cleansing and crimes against humanity. This responsibility | 9 |
| entails the prevention of such crimes, including their | 10 |
| incitement, through appropriate and necessary means. We accept | 11 |
| that responsibility and will act in accordance with it. The | 12 |
| international community should, as appropriate, encourage and | 13 |
| help States to exercise this responsibility and support the | 14 |
| United Nations in establishing an early warning capability" | 15 |
| (U.N. Document A/RES/60/1, par. 138 (2005)); and
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| WHEREAS, The United States of America and other Members of | 17 |
| the United Nations further agreed that, "(t)he international | 18 |
| community, through the United Nations, also has the | 19 |
| responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and | 20 |
| other peaceful means, in accordance with Chapters VI and VIII | 21 |
| of the Charter, to help to protect populations from genocide, | 22 |
| war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. In | 23 |
| this context, we are prepared to take collective action, in a | 24 |
| timely and decisive manner, through the Security Council, in | 25 |
| accordance with the Charter, including Chapter VII, on a | 26 |
| case-by-case basis and in cooperation with relevant regional | 27 |
| organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be | 28 |
| inadequate and national authorities are manifestly failing to | 29 |
| protect their populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic | 30 |
| cleansing and crimes against humanity. . . . We also intend to | 31 |
| commit ourselves, as necessary and appropriate, to helping | 32 |
| States build capacity to protect their populations from | 33 |
| genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against | 34 |
| humanity and to assisting those which are under stress before |
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| crises and conflicts break out" (U.N. Document A/RES/60/1, par. | 2 |
| 139 (2005)); and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, On April 28, 2006, the United Nations Security | 4 |
| Council reaffirmed the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of | 5 |
| the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document regarding the | 6 |
| responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war | 7 |
| crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity (U.N. | 8 |
| Document S/RES/1674 (2006), par. 4); and | 9 |
| WHEREAS, The principle of the responsibility to protect now | 10 |
| reflects the commitment of all the Members of the United | 11 |
| Nations to determine means to protect populations from the | 12 |
| deadly and devastating consequences of genocide, war crimes, | 13 |
| ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity (hereinafter | 14 |
| "atrocity crimes"); and
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| WHEREAS, Efforts by the United Nations and individual | 16 |
| nations to prevent and respond to atrocity crimes and thus | 17 |
| protect populations have far too often failed or not even been | 18 |
| attempted, with the result since 1945 that millions of innocent | 19 |
| civilians have lost their lives or been wounded or displaced | 20 |
| and their property and livelihoods destroyed; and | 21 |
| WHEREAS, In the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document, the | 22 |
| United States of America has accepted its responsibility to | 23 |
| protect its own population from atrocity crimes and should | 24 |
| continue acting in accordance with this principle; and | 25 |
| WHEREAS, The continued commission of atrocity crimes and | 26 |
| the likely future threat of them is morally intolerable and | 27 |
| unacceptable; and | 28 |
| WHEREAS, At other times in the history of the State of | 29 |
| Illinois and of the United States, such abominations as slavery | 30 |
| and the denial of basic civil and voting rights to all citizens |
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| have been rendered illegal and to significant degrees | 2 |
| eliminated through the concerted actions of concerned | 3 |
| citizens, civil society, the courts, and state and national | 4 |
| lawmakers and leaders; and
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| WHEREAS, In the State of Illinois there reside many | 6 |
| citizens who have fled from atrocity crimes, for whom the State | 7 |
| of Illinois provides services and various forms of support, and | 8 |
| many thousands of relatives of victims of the atrocity crimes | 9 |
| that have occurred in other countries and who seek effective | 10 |
| policies by the United States and other nations to help protect | 11 |
| their surviving relatives; and
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| WHEREAS, The moral imperative of the responsibility to | 13 |
| protect is inescapable and it reflects the highest American | 14 |
| values of freedom, humanitarian care, and the preservation of | 15 |
| the lives of innocent non-combatant men, women, and children; | 16 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The United States of America, as the most powerful | 18 |
| and influential country in the world, has the moral duty and | 19 |
| capacity to lead in domestic, in multinational initiatives and | 20 |
| in the United Nations Security Council to prevent and respond | 21 |
| rapidly to protect populations from the commission of atrocity | 22 |
| crimes; and
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| WHEREAS, The citizens of the State of Illinois contribute | 24 |
| men and women and financial resources to the U.S. Armed Forces | 25 |
| and elect Members of Congress and, with other states, the | 26 |
| President and Vice-President of the United States, and strongly | 27 |
| believe that these public officials and their subordinates have | 28 |
| profound responsibilities, to use every possible legal means, | 29 |
| under both federal and international law, to protect | 30 |
| populations from atrocity crimes; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL |
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| ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES | 2 |
| CONCURRING HEREIN, that the President and Congress should | 3 |
| commit the leadership of the United States Government to | 4 |
| effective implementation of the World Summit Outcome | 5 |
| declaration on the responsibility to protect, and to do so in | 6 |
| part through strengthening the preventive early warning | 7 |
| capabilities of the federal government and the United Nations, | 8 |
| and to develop strategies and policies as outlined in the 2005 | 9 |
| World Summit Outcome Document (U.N. Document A/RES/60/1) and in | 10 |
| the Security Council Resolution 1674 (2006) to ensure that the | 11 |
| responsibility to protect populations has both credible | 12 |
| meaning and effect, and that the United States is in the | 13 |
| forefront of its domestic and global application; and be it | 14 |
| further
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| RESOLVED, That the President should initiate discussions | 16 |
| with the permanent and non-permanent members of the United | 17 |
| Nations Security Council, the members of the United Nations | 18 |
| General Assembly and in separate forums with the governments of | 19 |
| the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the European Union, the | 20 |
| African Union, the Organization of American States, and the | 21 |
| Association of Southeast Asian Nations respectively, to | 22 |
| develop coordinated strategies for regional efforts to | 23 |
| implement the responsibility to protect, and that Congress | 24 |
| should express its full support for these discussions by joint | 25 |
| resolution; and be it further | 26 |
| RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent to the | 27 |
| President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the Speaker of the | 28 |
| U.S. House of Representatives, each member of the Illinois | 29 |
| congressional delegation, the President and Vice-President of | 30 |
| the United States, the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. | 31 |
| Secretary of Defense, and the U.S. Permanent Representative to | 32 |
| the United Nations.
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