PRINTER'S NO. 2800
No. 331 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY WILLIAMS, BEBKO-JONES, CALTAGIRONE, M. COHEN,
COLAFELLA, BROWNE, DERMODY, DeWEESE, MICHLOVIC, ROBINSON,
RUBLEY, STEELMAN, TRAVAGLIO, YOUNGBLOOD, ORIE, MANDERINO,
FRANKEL, HARHAI, LEVDANSKY, PISTELLA, ROEBUCK, SCRIMENTI,
TANGRETTI, TRELLO, KREBS, GEORGE, JOSEPHS, McCALL, RAMOS,
ROONEY, B. SMITH, E. Z. TAYLOR, WOJNAROSKI, WATERS, FREEMAN
AND TRUE, DECEMBER 13, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
DECEMBER 13, 1999
A RESOLUTION
1 Urging the President and Congress of the United States to enact
2 legislation banning the manufacture, stockpiling, sale and
3 use of anti-personnel landmines.
4 WHEREAS, There are 110,000,000 anti-personnel landmines
5 scattered in 69 countries, with this figure increasing
6 dramatically year by year and continuing violence against
7 civilians long after warfare has ceased; and
8 WHEREAS, These landmines are widely deployed in developing
9 countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America; and
10 WHEREAS, Another victim is killed or maimed every 20 minutes,
11 with more than 25,000 victims each year; and
12 WHEREAS, The majority of these victims are unarmed civilians
13 and 30% to 40% are children; and
14 WHEREAS, In the worst affected areas, the landmines play
15 havoc with the economy because refugees cannot return home,
1 farmers cannot till the fields, relief shipments cannot be
2 delivered, animals cannot reach water holes, suitable lands are
3 over-farmed, health care systems are overwhelmed and mine
4 clearance costs are exorbitant; and
5 WHEREAS, The United States has been a major producer and
6 exporter of anti-personnel landmines for a quarter century,
7 despite the Congressional moratorium on the export of anti-
8 personnel landmines until 1999; and
9 WHEREAS, Many United States military leaders, including
10 General Norman Schwarzkopf, have confirmed that there is no need
11 for deploying anti-personnel landmines as weapons; and
12 WHEREAS, The United States has recognized the humanitarian
13 cost of anti-personnel landmines and is pursuing efforts in the
14 United Nations and elsewhere to address the problem; and
15 WHEREAS, The United States requires the Secretary of Defense
16 to undertake research to eliminate any need, including training
17 and self-defense, for anti-personnel landmines; and
18 WHEREAS, The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use,
19 Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and
20 on Their Destruction (the Mine Ban Treaty,) which entered into
21 force on March 1, 1999, and is currently signed by 135
22 countries, was ratified by 71 nations as of March 26, 1999; and
23 WHEREAS, On March 15, 1998, President Clinton released a
24 Presidential Decision Directive mandating that the United States
25 end the use of anti-personnel landmines outside of Korea by 2003
26 and sign the Mine Ban Treaty by 2006 if alternatives to anti-
27 personnel landmines and mixed landmine systems are able to be
28 implemented by then; therefore be it
29 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
30 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President and Congress of
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1 the United States to enact legislation outlawing the
2 manufacture, stockpiling, sale and use of anti-personnel
3 landmines by the United States in accordance with the Mine Ban
4 Treaty which became international law on March 1, 1999; and be
5 it further
6 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives call upon the
7 President and Congress to cease and desist with any and all
8 plans to fund the development of any new anti-personnel or mixed
9 landmine systems and to begin to immediately implement measures
10 for compliance with the stipulations of the Mine Ban Treaty; and
11 be it further
12 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
13 the presiding officers of each house of Congress and to each
14 member of Congress from Pennsylvania and to the President of the
15 United States.
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