[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E276]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 24, 1999

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of my 
colleagues to a resolution on the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights. The following resolution was unanimously approved by 150 people 
from Vermont and New Hampshire who gathered at two events commemorating 
the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
I agree with their statement that ``human rights, as articulated in the 
Declaration, will be best assured when all nations work in concert to 
promote and protect them.''
  I call the attention of my colleagues to this resolution and ask that 
it be printed in the Congressional Record for their benefit:

 Resolution Calling on the United States Government to Fully Implement 
               the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

       We call upon the United States government to ensure that 
     the laws, actions, programs and policies of the United 
     States, both foreign and domestic, including government 
     import, export, business and development policies affecting 
     the welfare of all of the peoples of the world, be consistent 
     with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and its two 
     implementing International Covenants of 1966;
       Further, we urge the United States government to:
       Ratify the 1966 Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural 
     Rights, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of 
     Discrimination Against Women, the 1992 Convention on the 
     Rights of the Child, as well as the 1998 Rome Statute of the 
     International Criminal Court;
       Satisfy all of its obligations under the Charter of the 
     United Nations, including the Statute of the International 
     Court of Justice with a declaration under Article 36 which 
     recognizes that Statute as compulsory;
       Abide by Article 6 of the United States Constitution, which 
     states that all treaties signed and ratified by the United 
     States government are the law of the land;
       Acknowledge that the United Nations was created by 
     international treaty and therefore payment of UN dues without 
     conditions is an obligation with the force of American law.
       We also call on the governments of all nations to mandate 
     in every school under their jurisdiction, the teaching of the 
     principles and methods of non-violent social change, the 
     history of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and how 
     people throughout the world have struggled and continue to 
     struggle to make it a lived reality in the life of every 
     person, everywhere.
       Unanimously approved by 150 residents of Vermont and New 
     Hampshire who gathered at two events commemorating the 
     fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human 
     Rights.
       Further endorsed by the American Friends Service Committee 
     (Vermont), the United Nations Association (Vermont), the 
     World Federalist Association (New Hampshire and Vermont) and 
     Amnesty International (Hanover, NH).

     

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