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McCollum
Resolution Highlights Millennium Development Goals
On May 26, 2005, Representative Betty McCollum (D-MN) introduced a
non-binding resolution
(H.Con.Res 172) articulating Congress’ support of the United Nations
Millennium Development Goals. The resolution calls for increased US
leadership in aiding the international community to help achieve these
important goals.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
are a set of eight goals, each targeting specific issues, such as extreme
poverty, hunger, disease, environmental degradation, and illiteracy,
worldwide, to be achieved by 2015. In 2000, all UN member states pledged to
support the achievement of these objectives at the United Nations Millennium
Summit.
The House resolution, which is now awaiting action by the Committee on
International Relations, would, on behalf of Congress, reaffirm President
Bush’s support for the Millennium Declaration, as well as express support
for “a sustained United States commitment to work with reforms, leadership,
and resources necessary for the attainment of the…Millennium Development
Goals.” McCollum’s resolution urges the Bush administration to continue to
provide the leadership and resources necessary to achieve the MDGs. It also
highlights the importance of the forthcoming G-8 Summit in Scotland and the
United Nations Summit on the Millennium Declaration in New York as a forum
for demonstrating America’s continued support for the program.
The MDG, a truly global initiative, is a hopeful commitment made by nations
across the world that recognize the collective threat posed by extreme
poverty, hunger, disease, and the need for education all over the globe. On
March 14, 2002, President Bush spoke about the need to confront these global
threats, “[The] growing divide between wealthy and poverty, between
opportunity and misery, is both a challenge to our compassion and a source
of instability. We must confront it. We must include every African, every
Asian, every Latin American, every Muslim, in an expanding circle of
development.” This same call to action is embodied in the mission of the MDG
project and it is vital that Congress and the administration continue their
support unabated.
Updated
June 7, 2005 |
