110 HRES 1055 IH: Recognizing the enduring value of the
U.S. House of Representatives
2008-03-14
text/xml
EN
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Whereas racial discrimination and its related disparate
outcomes continue to be a problem in the United States and throughout the
world;
Whereas in a global effort to monitor and combat racial
discrimination, a number of multilateral organizations have become cooperating
partners, including the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), and the European
Union Fundamental Rights Agency (EUFRA);
Whereas CERD recently held its seventy-second session in
Geneva, Switzerland, to review anti-discrimination efforts undertaken by the
Governments of Fiji, Italy, the United States, Belgium, Nicaragua, Moldova, and
the Dominican Republic;
Whereas these countries are among the 173 states party to
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (ICERD);
Whereas agreed upon and originally signed by 85 states on
December 21, 1965, ICERD is now one of the most widely ratified United Nations
human rights conventions;
Whereas under ICERD, states party commit themselves to
condemn racial discrimination and undertake to pursue by all appropriate means
and without delay a policy of eliminating racial discrimination and promoting
understanding among all races;
Whereas states party also agree to take effective measures
to amend, rescind, or nullify any laws and regulations that have the effect of
creating or perpetuating racial discrimination and to ensure that all public
authorities and public institutions, national and local, shall act in
conformity with this obligation;
Whereas the United States ratified ICERD on October 21,
1994;
Whereas in April 2007, the United States submitted its
second report to CERD and appeared before CERD on February 21 and 22, 2008, in
accordance with ICERD commitments;
Whereas the United States’ report details the numerous
measures, including measures that have enjoyed some success, undertaken to
combat and address racial discrimination and racial disparities;
Whereas the United States Government stated to CERD that
it supported the elimination of racial discrimination at home and abroad
[…] and had made significant progress in improving race relations in the past
[and] continued to work actively to eliminate racial and ethnic discrimination.
However, challenges still existed, and a great deal of work remained to be
done.
;
Whereas in a demonstration of the vibrancy and role of the
civil society in the process, over 400 representatives of the United States
civil society submitted a shadow report supplementing the United States’
report; and
Whereas in response to the United States’ report, CERD
issued Concluding Observations
for the United States
that—
(1)commended the high-level United States
delegation and various departments and agencies tasked with eliminating racial
discrimination;
(2)commended the reauthorization of the
Violence Against Women Act of 1994 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the
launch of the E–RACE Initiative (“Eradicating Racism and Colorism from
Employment”), the creation of the National Partnership for Action to End Health
Disparities for Ethnic and Racial Minority Populations, and California Housing
Element Law of 1969;
(3)called on the United States to review the
definition of racial discrimination and practices and legislation that may not
be discriminatory in purpose, but in effect, and supported the adoption and
strengthening of special measures to address racial disparities;
(4)provided detailed concerns and
recommendations regarding Hurricane Katrina victims, and racial disparities in
housing, employment, healthcare, education, and the criminal justice system,
including those aspects that disproportionately impact women and Native
American, Muslim, and migrant populations; and
(5)recommended that the United States
establish appropriate mechanisms to ensure a coordinated approach toward the
implementation of ICERD at the Federal, State, and local levels: Now,
therefore, be it
That the House of
Representatives—
(1)recognizes the enduring value of ICERD as a
cornerstone of global efforts to combat racial discrimination and uphold human
rights;
(2)commends the
United States for meeting its ICERD reporting obligations;
(3)urges the Secretary of State, in
cooperation with the Attorney General and the heads of other relevant Federal
departments and agencies, to immediately and routinely communicate CERD’s
Concluding Observations
to the appropriate Federal, State, and
local agencies;
(4)supports the United States recognition that
racial discrimination and resulting disparate outcomes remain a problem and
that stereotypes and unconscious biases contribute to the persistence of racial
discrimination;
(5)calls for increased support for research
and initiatives by government, civil society, and the private sector, to
address both implicit and explicit forms of racial discrimination in health,
education, employment, justice, housing, and other sectors; and
(6)calls upon the United States Government to
support existing laws and programs aimed at redressing past injustices detailed
in the third United States’ report to CERD that have contributed to ongoing
racial discrimination and present day disparities.