Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 104 Part 2.djvu/102

 104 STAT. 1082 PUBLIC LAW 101-465—OCT. 25, 1990 Public Law 101-465 101st Congress Joint Resolution Oct. 25, 1990 Designating October 21 through October 27, 1990, as "World Population Awareness [S.J. Res. 158] Week". Whereas the population of the world today exceeds five billion and is growing at an unprecedented rate of approximately ninety million per year; Whereas virtually all of this growth is occurring in the poorest countries, those countries least able to provide even basic services for their current citizens; Whereas the demands of growing populations have contributed substantially to enormous environmental devastation and pose threats of even greater harm to the world; Whereas one-half of the ten million infant deaths and one-quarter of the five hundred thousand maternal deaths that occur each year in the developing world could be prevented if voluntary child spacing and maternal health programs could be substantially expanded; Whereas research reveals that one-half of the women of reproductive age in the developing world want to limit the size of their families but lack the means or ability to gain access to family planning; Whereas the global community has for more than twenty years recognized that it is a fundamental human right for people to voluntarily and responsibly determine the number and spacing of their children and the United States has been a leading advocate of this right; Whereas the demands of growing populations force riiany countries to borrow heavily and sell off their natural resources to cover the interest on their debt; Whereas selling off natural resources in such circumstances often causes irretrievable losses, such as the destruction of the tropical rain forests at a rate of fifty thousand acres per day; Whereas the reliance of a rapidly growing world population on burning fuels is a critical factor in the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which many scientists believe has already catalyzed a warming of the Earth's climate; Whereas pollution is damaging the ozone layer to such an extent that within forty years the ultraviolet light reaching our planet is expected to be up to 20 percent greater than it is today; and Whereas in 1988, forty State Governors proclaimed "World Population Awareness Week" in their States to call attention to the consequences of rapid population growth and the House of Representatives also passed a resolution to that effect: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That October 21 through October 27, 1990, is designated as "World Population Awareness Week", and the President is authorized and requested to 49-139 O - 90 (465)

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