Explanation of Position by John F. Sammis, Deputy United States Representative to ECOSOC, on the "Year of the Family", in the Third Committee of the Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly

John F. Sammis
United States  Deputy Representative to ECOSOC 
U.S. Mission to the United Nations 

New York, NY

October 26, 2009

AS PREPARED

“The United States is pleased to join consensus on this resolution. We recognize the importance of family.  The Cairo Programme of Action states that the family is the basic unit of society and that various forms of the family exist in different cultural, political and social systems.
When proclaiming September 28, 2009 as Family Day, President Obama recognized that various forms of the family have the ability to “encourage us to do our best and enable us to accomplish great things.”

In that spirit, the United States would have preferred if the phrase ‘various forms of the family’ had been included in the text.  We thank the EU for their explanation of position.” 

###