23 October 2001
Text: Resolution on Afghanistan's Need for Humanitarian Assistance
(S. Res. 172 forwarded to Senate Foreign Relations Committee) (920)
Senator Paul Wellstone (Democrat of Minnesota) introduced a measure to
the Senate October 18 on the need to provide emergency humanitarian
assistance to both Afghan citizens and refugees.
The proposed resolution, Senate Resolution 172 (S. Res. 172), was
forwarded to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
S. Res. 172 notes that "well before the terrorist attacks on September
11, 2001, Afghanistan was the site of the greatest crisis of hunger
and displacement in the world."
After more than 20 years of conflict three years of drought, and "the
repressive policies of the Taliban regime," the proposed resolution
says, "4,000,000 Afghans had sought refuge in neighboring countries."
S. Res. 172 also points out that Afghan women "have one of the highest
maternal mortality rates in the world, and one in four children dies
before the child's fifth birthday."
The Wellstone resolution calls on the United States to work to deliver
"assistance, particularly through overland truck convoys, and safe
humanitarian access to affected populations, in partnership with
humanitarian agencies in quantities sufficient to alleviate a large
scale humanitarian catastrophe." The United States should do that even
as it engages in military action in Afghanistan, the resolution says.
The United States military is involved in on-going emergency food
drops for Afghan civilians.
The United States, the proposed resolution continues, "should
contribute to efforts by the international community to provide
long-term, sustainable reconstruction and development assistance for
the people of Afghanistan, including efforts to protect the basic
human rights of women and children."
The United States is the single largest donor of humanitarian
assistance to the Afghan people, totaling more than $185,000,000 in
fiscal year 2001. President Bush has also announced a $320,000,000
initiative to respond to the humanitarian needs in Afghanistan and for
Afghan refugees in neighboring countries.
Following is the text of Senate Resolution 172 from the Congressional
Record:
(begin text)
S. RES. 172
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the urgent need to
provide emergency humanitarian assistance and development assistance
to civilians in Afghanistan, including Afghan refugees in surrounding
countries.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 18, 2001
Mr. WELLSTONE submitted the following resolution; which was referred
to the Committee on Foreign Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the urgent need to
provide emergency humanitarian assistance and development assistance
to civilians in Afghanistan, including Afghan refugees in surrounding
countries.
Whereas, well before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001,
Afghanistan was the site of the greatest crisis of hunger and
displacement in the world;
Whereas, after more than 20 years of conflict, 3 years of severe
drought, and the repressive policies of the Taliban regime, 4,000,000
Afghans had sought refuge in neighboring countries, and Afghan women
have one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, and one
in four children dies before the child's fifth birthday;
Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates
that 1,500,000 additional Afghans could seek to flee the country in
coming months due to the ongoing military conflict;
Whereas all 6 countries neighboring Afghanistan have closed their
borders to refugees both on security grounds and citing an inability
to economically provide for more refugees, and thousands have been
trapped at borders with no food, shelter, water, or medical care;
Whereas 7,500,000 people inside Afghanistan face critical food
shortages or risk starvation by winter's end, and are partially or
fully dependent on outside assistance for survival, and of these
people, 70 percent are women and children;
Whereas the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), which distributes
most of the food within Afghanistan, estimates that food stocks in the
country are critically short, and WFP overland food shipments inside
and outside the border of Afghanistan have been disrupted due to
security concerns over United States military strikes;
Whereas airdrops of food by the United States military cannot by
itself meet the enormous humanitarian needs of the Afghan people, and
cannot replace the most effective delivery method of overland truck
convoys of food, nor can it replace access to affected populations by
humanitarian agencies;
Whereas the President has announced a $320,000,000 initiative to
respond to the humanitarian needs in Afghanistan and for Afghan
refugees in neighboring countries, and much more international
assistance is clearly needed; and
Whereas the United States is the single largest donor of humanitarian
assistance to the Afghan people, totaling more than $185,000,000 in
fiscal year 2001: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT
ASSISTANCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF AFGHANISTAN.
It is the sense of the Senate that--
(1) Afghanistan's neighbors should reopen their borders to allow for
the safe passage of refugees, and the international community must be
prepared to contribute to the economic costs incurred by the flight of
desperate Afghan civilians;
(2) as the United States engages in military action in Afghanistan, it
must work to deliver assistance, particularly through overland truck
convoys, and safe humanitarian access to affected populations, in
partnership with humanitarian agencies in quantities sufficient to
alleviate a large scale humanitarian catastrophe; and
(3) the United States should contribute to efforts by the
international community to provide long-term, sustainable
reconstruction and development assistance for the people of
Afghanistan, including efforts to protect the basic human rights of
women and children.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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