HR65

WHEREAS, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is the United Nations office principally responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space; and

WHEREAS, Planet Earth is much like an island in a great and fathomless ocean, separated from other planets and celestial bodies by thousands, millions, billions, and in some instances trillions of miles; and

WHEREAS, astronauts, cosmonauts, and numerous other brave souls who have ventured into outer space during the last 47 years have marveled at how special, unique, and wonderful our Planet Earth is from space, including NASA astronaut Roger Chaffee who remarked, "The world itself looks cleaner and so much more beautiful. Maybe we can make it that way – the way God intended it to be – by giving everyone, eventually, that new perspective from out in space"; and

WHEREAS, on September 21, 1987, before the United Nations General Assembly, President Ronald Reagan remarked, "In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity"; and

WHEREAS, when one considers the vastness of space and the relatively small size of our Planet in comparison to the scale of the Universe, even our most massive conflicts and violent political disputes among nations seem minor; and

WHEREAS, we as a human race have much to learn, not only from one another, but from exploration of the planets, stars, and solar systems beyond our own; and

WHEREAS, statistically speaking, there are four hundred billion stars just in our galaxy alone, and if only one in a million of those had planets, and if just one of a million of those had life, and if just one out of a million of those had intelligent life, there would be literally millions of civilizations out there, making our conflicts with our fellow man seem irrelevant and petty in the grand scheme of things; and

WHEREAS, the expansion of knowledge and the humility from discovering new worlds and unlocking secrets of the stars could greatly impact the progress of mankind, possibly leading to decreased violence against one's own kind and even an end to warfare and strife altogether; and

WHEREAS, the House of Representatives is deeply concerned about the future of our keiki, our ohana, and our Planet; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that in the name of connecting humanity, bridging divides of conflict and bringing about peace, that this body respectfully calls upon the United Nations General Assembly to request by resolution that the UNOOSA proactively advance the cause of world peace and cooperation between nations through space exploration; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United Nations General Assembly is also humbly requested to include its resolution to the UNOOSA a call to unite the nations in not only the pursuit of new peaceful uses of space, but also a search for intelligent life and a definitive answer to whether or not it has come to Earth or is in our reach; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to:

(1) The President of the UN General Assembly;

(2) The President of the United States;

(3) The Vice President of the United States;

(4) The Speaker of the US House of Representatives;

(5) The President pro tempore of the US Senate;

(6) The Executive Director of NASA;

(7) The Commander of the United States Air Force Space Command;

(8) The Director of SETI; and

(9) The Director General of the European Space Agency.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________
		BY REQUEST

Report Title:

International UN Peace Initiative

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	65
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII