[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 58 (Thursday, May 11, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3925-S3926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 306--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE WITH RESPECT 
TO MOTHER'S DAY THAT THE UNITED STATES SENATE SHOULD REJECT THE UNITED 
 NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN 
 (CEDAW) AS IT DEMEANS MOTHERHOOD AND UNDERMINES THE TRADITIONAL FAMILY

  Mr. HELMS submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 306

       Whereas motherhood is a God-given right of women to bear 
     and rear children;
       Whereas, since 1914, the United States has officially 
     observed the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day to display 
     public expression of love and reverence for all American 
     mothers;
       Whereas Mother's Day is recognized by the United States and 
     many other countries in affirmation of the invaluable role 
     mothers play in providing a family upbringing for children;
       Whereas the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination 
     Against Women integrates a derogatory sentiment toward 
     motherhood as manifested in the Convention's January 3, 2000 
     Committee Report on Belarus specifically condemning symbols 
     such as Mother's Day;
       Whereas the Senate affirms its commitment that the United 
     States should work with other nations to enhance the 
     protection of the fundamental right of motherhood, including 
     the condemnation of coercive population control programs 
     where expectant mothers are forced to undergo abortions or 
     sterilizations;
       Whereas the Convention's agenda to promote abortion 
     worldwide invades the laws of countries that hold a religious 
     or moral belief that abortion is the destruction of innocent 
     human life and that it subjects expectant mothers to physical 
     and emotional trauma;
       Whereas the Convention seeks to supplant the primary care 
     and nurturing provided by stay-at-home mothers with 
     institutionalized daycare facilities as advocated in the 
     Convention's August 12, 1997 Committee Report on Slovenia, 
     which stated that children cared for at home are deprived of 
     ``educational and social opportunities offered in formal 
     daycare institutions''; and
       Whereas more than a hundred United States-based family, 
     religious, and educational organizations representing 
     countless millions of Americans strongly oppose United States 
     ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of 
     Discrimination Against Women: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
       (1) the tenets of the Convention on the Elimination of 
     Discrimination Against Women are incompatible with the 
     tradition and policy of the United States to uphold 
     motherhood and to regard motherhood with the highest degree 
     of honor and respect;
       (2) the Convention would create negative perceptions toward 
     motherhood; and
       (3) the Senate should not give its advice and consent to 
     ratification of the fundamentally flawed Convention on the 
     Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, mothers across America will be showered 
with love and appreciation this Sunday as an annual expression of love 
and gratitude for the selfless acts mothers make for their families 
every day. Sunday is one of the truly special days of the year. It is 
Mother's Day.
  Americans have a tradition of honoring mothers, dating back to 1914, 
when the second Sunday of May was first recognized as ``Mother's Day''
  It is especially significant in this year 2000 because of the irony 
that a number of high-profile women in the Clinton Administration--and 
in Congress--are so vocally supportive of the so-called U.N. Convention 
on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, which they call 
CEDAW--which rhymes with hee-haw.
  In any case, the point is this, Mr. President, the radical feminists 
groups around the country have gone to extreme lengths with incessant 
declarations, shouting, and even rudely disrupting at least one 
congressional hearing in their futile efforts to convince American 
women that the CEDAW Treaty somehow protects the rights of women, which 
it absolutely would not do--even in the highly unlikely event that the 
Senate ever gives CEDAW a second glance.
  The problem for the radical feminists is that the truth has been 
circulated across the land that the proposed treaty fails to offer 
increased opportunities for women. All the same, the radical feminists 
have tried to turn the proposed treaty into a feminist manifesto, and 
the militant women have fallen on their faces in the process.
  Mr. President, one needs only to examine the reports of the various 
CEDAW committees, and it is clear that motherhood is not favorably 
viewed by the CEDAW advocates.
  For instance, Mr. President, earlier this year, one such committee 
solemnly warned the nation Belarus that there was great ``concern 
[over] the continuing prevalence of such [stereotypical] symbols as a 
Mother's Day.'' Now get that--``the continuing prevalence of such 
[stereotypical] symbols as a Mother's Day.'' The nation Armenia was 
lectured about the need to ``combat the traditional stereotype of women 
in the noble role of mother.''
  Another CEDAW committee warned Slovenia that too many Slovenian 
mothers (that's right, too many mothers) were staying home (in the 
opinion of the CEDAW ladies) to raise their children. Think of that bad 
situation,

[[Page S3926]]

mothers staying home to raise their children. The CEDAW crowd also 
warned that because only 30 percent of children in Slovenia were in 
day-care centers, the other 70 percent were in grave danger of 
``miss[ing] out on educational and social opportunities offered in 
(the) formal day-care institutions.'' One can surmise they mean that 
all this is more important and more effective than motherhood in the 
home.
  So, in spite of CEDAW's noisy advocates, Mr. President, the so-called 
Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against 
Women--and that is a jawbreaker within itself--has been left at the 
starting gate simply because this unwise proposed treaty was clearly 
negotiated by radical feminists with the intent of enshrining their 
radical anti-family agenda into international law.
  That is why this CEDAW mishmash has been collecting dust in the 
Senate for 20 years. And when I say Senate, I mean the Committee on 
Foreign Relations. It was sent to the Senate by President Carter in 
1980--since which the Democratic Party was in control of the Senate for 
10 years. But the treaty is so obviously bad that the Democrats never 
brought it up for a vote, and if I have anything to do with it--and I 
think I do--it will never see the light of day on my watch.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a list of more than 100 
U.S. groups, representing countless millions of Americans who oppose 
the CEDAW, be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Over 100 Organizations Representing Countless Millions Who Oppose CEDAW

       The Alliance of Catholic Women, Providence, RI.
       VCY America, Milwaukee, WI
       Leola Area Right to Life, Forbes, ND.
       Baby Humans Foundation, Cedar Park, TX.
       The New Jersey Coalition for Marriage, Mendham, NJ.
       Our Lady of the Rosary, Library, Louisville, KY.
       Eutopia: A Lay Journal of Catholic Thought, Washington, DC.
       Voice For Life, Springfield, MO.
       Northwest Catholic Family.
       Education Conference.
       Concerned Roman, Catholics of America, Anaheim, CA.
       Holy Innocents Reparation Committee, Anaheim, CA.
       Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich, MA.
       Men's Health America, Rockville, MD.
       The Way, The Truth, The Life, Forestport, NY.
       National Federation of Republican Assemblies, Simi Valley, 
     CA.
       John Paul II Institute of Christian Spirituality, 
     Woodstock, VA.
       The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Pro-Life Action 
     League, Madison, WI.
       Women for Faith & Family, St. Louis, MO.
       Jesus House Ministries.
       ABC Pregnancy Help Center, Pratt, KS.
       Rock for Life of Columbus & Central Ohio, Columbus, OH.
       The American Family Association of NY, Port Washington, NY.
       The Crush--Birmingham, Oneonta, AL.
       Concerned Women for America of NJ, Glen Rock, NJ.
       Knights of Columbus St Raphael Council, #11884, Belmont, 
     WI.
       Eagle Forum, Washington, DC.
       Expectant Mother Care, New York, NY.
       Legal Center for the Defense of Life.
       New York, NY, Illinois Right to Life Committee, Chicago, 
     IL.
       Catholic Citizens of Illinois, La Grange, IL.
       CSRA Family Network, Augusta, GA.
       Catholics for Just Choice, San Antonio, TX.
       Voice For Life, Springfield, MO.
       Catholic Alliance, Washington, DC.
       The Society for the Promotion of Celtic Virtues, Brewster, 
     NY.
       Vision Youth Ministries, Inc., Knox, IN.
       A Woman's Hope, Champaign, IL.
       St. Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer Chapter: TORCH of the 
     East Bay, Walnut Creek, CA.
       Life Coalition International, Melbourne, FL.
       Roe No More Ministry.
       Capitol Resource Institute, Sacrament, CA.
       Family Action Council International, Fredericksburg, VA.
       World Family Policy Center, Provo, UT.
       Life Advocates, Houston, TX.
       Population Research Institute, Front Royal, VA.
       Guild of the Holy Spirit, Front Royal, VA.
       Couple to Couple League International, Cincinnati, OH.
       Coalitions for America.
       Knights of Columbus Council #765, Cuba City, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #1386, Platteville, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #1762, Hudson, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #7370, Hazel Green, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #1080, Darlington, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #605, Beloit, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #839, LaCrosse, WI.
       Knights of Columbus Council #1909, Highland, WI.
       Villanovans for Life, Villanova, PA.
       Rock For Life, Owings Mills, MD.
       National Congress for Fathers and Children, Kansas.
       Rockford Area RomanCatholic Home Educators, Capron, IL.
       NFP Outreach, Oklahoma City, OK.
       ABCs of Faith, The Woodlands, TX.
       Rock For Life, Quad Cities Illinois.
       Torch, Montgomery County.
       New Jersey Physician's Resource Council, Mountainside, NJ.
       Life Savers Ministries, Inc., Bakersfield, CA.
       Rock for Life, Elkton, Maryland.
       Rock For Life, Richmond, TX.
       Rock For Life, Manchester, NH.
       The National Right to Life Committee, Washington, DC.
       TLM Youth Group, Cajon, CA.
       Rockland County Catholic Coalition, Nyack, NY.
       Rock For Life, Elgin, Illinois.
       Rock For Life, Lane County, Oregon.
       Upper Michigan Christians United, Ishpeming, MI.
       New Hampshire Prolife Council, Manchester, NH.
       The Family Foundation, Richmond, VA.
       Rock For Life, Fort Wayne, IN.
       St. Thomas More Society of Notre Dame Law School, Notre 
     Dame, IN.
       Notre Dame Right to Life, Notre Dame, IN.
       Concerned Women for America, Washington, DC.
       Praise Assembly of God, Wayne, NE.
       Christ in the Workplace, Chicago, IL.
       Save the Baby Humans Foundation, Cedar Park, TX.
       Our Lady of the Rosary Library, Louisville, KY.
       The New Jersey Family Policy Council, Parsippany, NJ.
       The Family Foundation, Richmond, VA.
       William and Mary Alternatives to Abortion, Williamsburg, 
     VA.
       Holy Family Medical Specialties, Lincoln, NE.
       Rock for Life, McLean, VA.
       United Families Int'l, Salt Lake City, UT.
       Pro-Life Wisconsin, Brookfield, WI.
       Catholic Pro-Life Committee of the Diocese of Dallas, 
     Dallas, TX.
       Cincinnati Rock For Life, Hamilton, OH.
       Family Research Council, Washington, D.C.
       The White Rose Women's Center, Dallas, TX.
       Focus on the Family, Washington, D.C.

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