U.S. WITHDRAWS ITS DEMAND FOR PEACEKEEPING EXEMPTION RENEWAL

On June 27, 2005, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Richard G. Lugar (R, IN) introduced S.1315, International Cooperation to Meet the Millennium Development Goals Act of 2005 to the Senate. The bill would call for a required report on progress toward the Millennium Development Goals, among other things.

The report would be required no later than sixty days after the date of the conclusion o the World Trade Organization Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, scheduled to be held December 13 through December 18,2005. The report would be given by the Secretary of State in consultation with other appropriate United States and international agencies and given to the appropriate congressional committee for review.

The content of the report would include the following:

• A review of the commitments made by the United States and other members of the international community, at the summit of the Group of Eight [Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States] (July 2005), the United Nations summit (September 2005), and the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (December 2005)
• A review of United States policies and progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, as well as policies to provide continued leadership in achieving such goals by 2015.
• An evaluation of the contributions of other national and international actors in achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
• An assessment of the likelihood that the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved.

Senator Lugar’s bill was introduced to the Senate on June 27, 2005 and then referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. The Senator’s bill is a important chance for the United States to monitor the progress of the Millennium Development Goals and allows for the United States to continually check and recheck their own role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Updated June 29, 2004