119-hres361

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 361 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
H. RES. 361

 Supporting the recognition of April 4, 2025, as the International Day 
 for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, and reaffirming the 
leadership of the United States in eliminating landmines and unexploded 
 ordnance.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 30, 2025

 Mr. Bera (for himself and Mr. Valadao) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and 
 in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
 of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
 concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

 RESOLUTION

 Supporting the recognition of April 4, 2025, as the International Day 
 for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, and reaffirming the 
leadership of the United States in eliminating landmines and unexploded 
 ordnance.

Whereas landmines and unexploded ordnance threaten the safety, health, and lives 
 of civilian populations and create humanitarian and development 
 challenges that have serious and lasting social, economic, and security 
 consequences for affected populations;
Whereas demining and clearance of unexploded ordnance enables displaced people 
 to return to their homes and has a direct impact on development outcomes 
 such as food security, school attendance, and economic development;
Whereas people in at least 60 countries and other areas are at risk from mines 
 and unexploded ordnance in their communities;
Whereas more than 135,000 deaths and injuries resulting from antipersonnel or 
 antivehicle mines and other explosive remnants of war have been recorded 
 in the Landmine Monitor database since 2001, and thousands more 
 individuals around the world are killed and injured by such mines and 
 remnants each year;
Whereas, over the past 3 decades, the United States has been the global leader 
 in supporting efforts to clear mine-contaminated areas around the world, 
 dedicating more than $4,600,000,000 for demining and related programs in 
 120 countries and territories since 1993;
Whereas, since 1989, the United States Agency for International Development has 
 allocated more than $337,000,000 through the Leahy War Victims Fund in 
 more than 50 countries to provide artificial limbs, wheelchairs, 
 rehabilitation, vocational training, and other assistance to survivors 
 of accidents caused by landmines and unexploded ordnance;
Whereas landmines contaminate countries in which the United States Armed Forces 
 have been engaged in combat or stabilization operations, including Iraq, 
 Syria, Kosovo, Somalia, and in the Pacific Islands, posing a significant 
 risk to United States military personnel;
Whereas the United States Government expressed its support for the Maputo +15 
 declaration of June 27, 2014, which established the goal ``to destroy 
 all stockpiled anti-personnel mines and clear all mined areas as soon as 
 possible'';
Whereas there are 164 States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the 
 Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and 
 on their Destruction, done at the Oslo Landmine Conference, September 
 18, 1997, although the United States is not yet among them;
Whereas the recent use of landmines, cluster bombs, and other munitions, 
 particularly in the Middle East, Afghanistan, Burma, and Ukraine, has 
 created new humanitarian priorities and funding requirements for 
 demining, while legacy mine contamination remains an urgent challenge 
 impacting millions of people globally;
Whereas Russia's aggression in Ukraine has resulted in an estimated one-third of 
 the territory being contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance, 
 creating a massive need for clearance operations as a prerequisite for 
 Ukraine's recovery, but acknowledging that these needs in Ukraine do not 
 diminish the similarly urgent need for humanitarian demining in other 
 parts of the world;
Whereas additional resources for demining will be needed to achieve a world free 
 of the threat of landmines and other explosive hazards;
Whereas, since the end of the Vietnam war, more than 40,000 people in Vietnam 
 have been killed by unexploded ordnance and 60,000 injured, at least 
 25,000 people have been killed or injured by explosives in Laos, and at 
 least 65,000 people in Cambodia since 1979; and
Whereas, on December 8, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly declared that 
 April 4th of each year shall be observed as the International Day for 
 Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

    (1) reaffirms the commitment of the United States to 
 support international humanitarian efforts to eliminate 
 landmines and unexploded ordnance;

    (2) recognizes the communities from Cambodia, Laos, and 
 Vietnam including the many Hmong, Cham, Cambodian, Iu-Mien, 
 Khmu, Lao, Montagnard, and Vietnamese people who supported and 
 defended the United States Armed Forces during the conflict in 
 Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s;

    (3) remembers the 50th anniversary of the end of the 
 Vietnam war and the sacrifices of the members of the United 
 States Armed Forces that served in the conflict;

    (4) recognizes those individuals in numerous countries who, 
 at great risk to their personal safety, work to locate and 
 remove antipersonnel landmines and unexploded ordnance;

    (5) affirms its support for the goal, as expressed by the 
 Maputo +15 declaration of June 27, 2014, to intensify efforts 
 to clear mined areas to the fullest extent possible by 2025;

    (6) calls upon the United States Government--
        (A) to continue providing the funding necessary to 
 support international humanitarian demining activities;
        (B) to maintain its international leadership role 
 in seeking to rid the world of areas contaminated by 
 landmines and unexploded ordnance; and
            (C) to rededicate itself to addressing legacy mine 
 contamination as an urgent humanitarian priority; and

    (7) reaffirms the goals of the International Day for Mine 
 Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action.
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