[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 416 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 416

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
States should become an international human rights leader by ratifying 
        and implementing certain core international conventions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 7, 2009

  Mr. Lewis of Georgia (for himself, Mr. Markey of Massachusetts, Ms. 
Bordallo, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Honda, Ms. 
Matsui, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, 
and Mr. Rangel) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
 to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee 
  on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United 
States should become an international human rights leader by ratifying 
        and implementing certain core international conventions.

Whereas the United States has played a leading role in developing global human 
        rights standards since the country's inception;
Whereas the United States Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. 
        Constitution, are among the guiding principles which helped develop the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, led the 
        United States delegation and the United Nations (UN) in drafting the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas, December 10, 2008, marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights;
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly also adopted the International 
        Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International 
        Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1966;
Whereas the world celebrated the 201st anniversary of the abolition of the 
        transatlantic slave trade on May 1, 2008;
Whereas, on January 1, 2008, the United States recognized the 145th anniversary 
        of the Emancipation Proclamation;
Whereas the United States continues to make legislative amendments that improve 
        the rights of all Americans; these include the 13th Amendment in 1865, 
        the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the 14th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, 
        the Social Security Act of 1935, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, 
        the Housing Act of 1949, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Civil Rights Act 
        of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Elementary and Secondary 
        Education Act of 1965, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 
        the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, the Civil Rights 
        Restoration Act of 1988, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 
        the Civil Rights Act of 1991, and the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization 
        of 2006;
Whereas the development of human and civil rights standards and protections 
        requires constant review and attention;
Whereas the UN Millennium Development Goals set forth a fifteen-year plan to 
        combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation 
        and discrimination;
Whereas there are as many as 27 million people around the world who remain 
        enslaved;
Whereas the United States has supported the adoption of the Universal 
        Declaration of Human Rights in the UN General Assembly and has ratified 
        significant international human rights treaties that include the 
        International Conventions on the Elimination of Racism and 
        Discrimination, on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of 
        Genocide, and against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading 
        Treatment or Punishment and the International Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights;
Whereas the United States has ratified two of the eight ``fundamental'' 
        conventions outlined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) 
        including the Abolition of Forced Labour, and the Prohibition and 
        Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour;
Whereas the United States has also ratified the Optional Protocol to the 
        Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child 
        Prostitution and Child Pornography, and the Optional Protocol to the 
        Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in 
        Armed Conflicts;
Whereas the United States is expected to be a regional and global leader in the 
        international civil and human rights movement; and
Whereas the United Nations headquarters are located in New York City, and the 
        Organization of American States is headquartered in Washington, DC: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the United States recommits to fighting discrimination, 
        xenophobia, human and civil rights abuses in both domestic and 
        foreign policy;
            (2) the United States reaffirms its commitment to the 
        Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
            (3) the United States should give thorough review to 
        domestic policy and legislative proposals that would improve 
        the economic, social, political, cultural, and civil rights and 
        lives of marginalized communities within the United States;
            (4) the United States Senate should give its advice and 
        consent to the ratification of the UN Covenant on Economic, 
        Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Convention on the 
        Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and 
        its Optional Protocol, the UN Convention on the Rights of the 
        Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with 
        Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, the UN Convention for 
        the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the 
        First Optional Protocol to the UN Covenant on Civil and 
        Political Rights and the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention 
        Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment 
        or Punishment;
            (5) the United States Senate should give its advice and 
        consent to the ratification of the ILO Convention on Forced or 
        Compulsory Labour, the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association 
        and Protection of the Right to Organise, the ILO Convention on 
        the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining, the ILO 
        Convention on Equal Remuneration, the ILO Convention on 
        Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, and the 
        ILO Convention on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment;
            (6) the United States should fully support the Inter-
        American human rights system, especially hemispheric 
        conventions regarding the rights of all persons, women, 
        children, the disabled, marginalized communities, and the right 
        to freedom of expression; and
            (7) it is the policy of the United States to oppose 
        slavery, torture, racism, discrimination, and xenophobia in all 
        forms.
                                 <all>