HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 849
By Powers
A RESOLUTION to urge the United States' withdrawal from the United Nations.
WHEREAS, Tennessee and the United States as a whole must value relationships that best advance the country's interests; and WHEREAS, the United Nations (U.N.) was created in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II, as a means of trying to establish greater cooperation among countries; and WHEREAS, the United States provides about twenty-two percent of the U.N.'s budget;
and WHEREAS, the U.N. often pursues an agenda that runs counter to what America's policy goals should be. For instance, in 2016 the U.N. Security Council sided with Palestine and passed a resolution condemning Israel’s settlements in Jerusalem; and WHEREAS, other U.N. initiatives threaten America's sovereignty, such as the Law of the Sea Treaty, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Arms Trade Treaty;
and WHEREAS, the U.N. usurps people's ability to govern themselves. An international body of individuals making decisions that impose restrictions on individual nations strips those nations of autonomy; and WHEREAS, the United Nations' actions are inconsistent with its goal of protecting and promoting peace. In 2019, Venezuela, under the control of Nicholas Maduro's authoritarian-
socialist government, was added to the organization's Human Rights Council; and WHEREAS, in 2011, the U.N. General Assembly held a minute of silence for the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, despite his record of atrocities; and HJR0849
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WHEREAS, the U.N. has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric and actions. In 1975, General Assembly Resolution 3379 determined that Zionism "is a form of racism and racial discrimination." In 2016, a resolution adopted at the annual meeting of the World Health Organization singled out Israel as the only violator of "mental, physical, and environmental health"; and WHEREAS, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said, "When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action"; and WHEREAS, while the United Nations Charter does not provide for withdrawal procedures, the principle of rebus sic stantibus, or "things standing thus," may allow the United States to withdraw. Under that principle, a state may withdraw from a treaty without withdrawal procedures if substantial unforeseen changes in circumstances have occurred; and WHEREAS, the United Nations' failure to promote peace serves as a substantial change in circumstance; and WHEREAS, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has extensive links to Gaza and Islamist terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad; and WHEREAS, approximately 1,200 of UNRWA's 12,000 employees in Gaza are believed to have connections with these terrorist groups, and Israeli intelligence reports indicate that approximately 190 UNRWA employees have doubled as Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants during the course of their employment; and WHEREAS, Israeli intelligence reports indicate that at least 12 UNRWA employees were directly involved in Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, including several that were school teachers, and were implicated in various roles from logistics and weapons procurement to
abduction and direct participation in the attacks, including the Be'eri massacre; and
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WHEREAS, the United States has an excellent relationship with the North Atlantic Trade Organization (NATO), which functions similarly to the U.N. but in manners more closely aligned to U.S. interests; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED
THIRTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE
CONCURRING, that we urge Congress and the President to withdraw the United States from the United Nations and strengthen America's ties with NATO so as to better serve the country's interests.
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