By Hill                                              H.C.R. No. 120
       74R6407 KMP-D
                                 CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, In recent years, United States foreign policy has
    1-2  allowed U.S.  military personnel to be placed under the direct
    1-3  control of United Nations commanders, strategists, and policy
    1-4  makers; and
    1-5        WHEREAS, The constitutional role of the United States
    1-6  military is to protect the life, liberty, and property of American
    1-7  citizens and to defend our nation against insurrection and foreign
    1-8  invasion; and
    1-9        WHEREAS, In 1945, the Congress of the United States adopted
   1-10  legislation that allows the president and congress to furnish armed
   1-11  forces and equipment for limited peacekeeping operations; since
   1-12  that time, however, the scope and complexity of United Nations
   1-13  military interventions has grown dramatically, with operations now
   1-14  under way in 20 of the most dangerous regions around the globe
   1-15  involving personnel from more than 70 countries; and
   1-16        WHEREAS, Recent events in Somalia and other war-torn areas
   1-17  have graphically demonstrated the vulnerability that U.S. military
   1-18  personnel must face while serving with troops of other nations; and
   1-19        WHEREAS, Since the ratification of the U.N. charter, more
   1-20  than 1,200 military personnel, including many Americans, have been
   1-21  killed during United Nations peacekeeping operations or observer
   1-22  missions; as our nation's involvement in U.N. military
   1-23  interventions continues to mount, more and more American parents
   1-24  will be told that their sons and daughters have been killed while
    2-1  serving under foreign commanders; and
    2-2        WHEREAS, At a peacekeeping conference held this February,
    2-3  U.N. officials met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss
    2-4  standardization of training methods and military procedures among
    2-5  United Nations troops; if implemented, this would be a truly
    2-6  inappropriate and unacceptable subordination of our nation's
    2-7  long-standing military laws, procedures, and traditions; and
    2-8        WHEREAS, The United States of America maintains the
    2-9  best-trained, best-equipped, and best-educated military force in
   2-10  the world, a force whose integrity is severely compromised when it
   2-11  is placed in the hands of foreign commanders; now, therefore, be it
   2-12        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
   2-13  hereby request the Congress of the United States to take all
   2-14  necessary action to prevent members of the U.S. Armed Forces from
   2-15  being placed under the command of foreign officers during their
   2-16  participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations or observer
   2-17  missions; and, be it further
   2-18        RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
   2-19  copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
   2-20  the speaker of the house of representatives and president of the
   2-21  senate of the United States Congress, and to all members of the
   2-22  Texas delegation to the congress with the request that it be
   2-23  officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the
   2-24  Congress of the United States of America.