[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 81 (Tuesday, June 18, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5717-S5719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD ON THE SALE OF CHILDREN, CHILD 
    PROSTITUTION AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY--TREATY DOCUMENT NO. 106-37B

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
now proceed to the consideration of Executive Calendar No. 6, the 
Optional Protocol No. 2 to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 
the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography; that 
the protocol be considered as having advanced through its parliamentary 
stages up to and including the presentation of the resolution of 
ratification; and that the reservation, understandings, declaration, 
and condition be agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mrs. BOXER. Madam President, I am very pleased that today the Senate 
is approving two Optional Protocols to the U.N. Convention on the 
Rights of the Child. The Optional Protocol on Involvement of Children 
in Armed Conflict, also known as the Child Soldiers Protocol, aims to 
prevent children under the age of 18 from directly participating in 
hostilities. The second treaty, the Optional Protocol on the Sale of 
Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography aims to strengthen 
efforts to put a stop to the trafficking and exploitation of children.
  Last March, I chaired a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on 
these two Protocols that featured members of the State, Justice, and 
Defense Departments. I appreciate the cooperation the committee 
received from these agencies in making ratification of these two 
treaties possible. The hearing also featured a panel of private 
witnesses that was led by Jo Becker, a tireless advocate on the issue 
of banning the use of child soldiers.
  During her testimony, Ms. Becker pointed out that in Afghanistan, two 
generations of children have been subject to recruitment, first into 
the resistance to Soviets forces, and then into various warring 
factions. It is well-known that the Taliban recruited children from the 
religious schools in Pakistan.
  The Child Soldiers Protocol requires parties to the treaty to (1) 
take ``all feasible measures'' to ensure that individuals under the age 
of 18 do not take a ``direct part'' in hostilities; (2) ban involuntary 
recruitment into the armed forces for those under the age of 18; and 
(3) raise the minimum age for voluntary recruitment into the armed

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forces from the current benchmark of 15 years of age to that of 16 or 
higher. Under current law, the minimum age for voluntary recruitment in 
the U.S. is already set at 17.
  Why is ratification of the child Soldiers Protocol important? Right 
now, an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18 are currently 
fighting in more than 30 conflicts around the world. In places like 
Sierra Leone, children have been kidnapped by rebel groups, given 
drugs, and forced to commit atrocities. Child soldiers not only lose 
their childhood, they develop psychological scars, they suffer physical 
injuries, and, in the worst cases, they die.
  Listen to the story of a 16-year old girl who was abducted by the 
Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda:

       One boy tried to escape, but he was caught . . . his hands 
     were tied, and they made us, the other new captives, kill him 
     with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before. We 
     were from the same village. I refused to kill him and they 
     told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I 
     had to do it. The boy was asking me. ``Why are you doing 
     this?'' I said I had no choice. After we killed him, they 
     made us smear his blood on our arms .  .  . They said we had 
     to do this so we would not fear death and so we would not try 
     to escape . . . I still dream about the boy from my village 
     who I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me 
     and saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying.

  Here is another story from a former child soldier in Sierra Leone:
  ``Most times I dream, I have a gun, I'm firing, I'm killing, 
amputating. I feel afraid thinking that perhaps these things will 
happen to me again. Sometimes I cry...''
  And finally another says, ``my schoolmates and I met our old teacher, 
and we knocked him down. We killed the teacher and we took his books 
and burned them.''
  I am proud that the Senate is taking action today to put an end to 
these stories. Formally adopting the protocol's standards for U.S. 
military operations will enable the U.S. to be able to effectively 
pressure other governments and forces to end the use of children within 
their own military ranks.
  The second treaty the Senate is approving today is the Protocol on 
the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. The 
Sale of Children Protocol requires parties to the treaty to make sure 
that these acts are fully covered by penal or criminal law.
  The abuse of children is a global problem. Millions of boys and girls 
under the age of 18 are bought and sold each year. Girls are 
particularly vulnerable. According to the United Nations Children's 
Fund (UNICEF), girls appear to be forced into the sex industry at 
increasingly younger ages, partly as a result of the mistaken belief 
that younger girls are unlikely to be infected with HIV or AIDS.
  Let me mention just a few atrocious examples:
  A 15-year-old boy from Mali watched the torture and subsequent deaths 
of two other forced laborers who tried to escape from a coffee 
plantation in the Ivory Coast.
  A 14-year-old girl from Mexico was brutally raped and then 
prostituted for months by traffickers in Florida who lured her there by 
promising a job in the restaurant industry.
  An 11-year-old in Thailand was included in a sexually explicit 
videotape produced by a pornographer in the United States.
  Under the Protocol, countries are encouraged to cooperate to protect 
children trafficked across borders. The Optional Protocol also calls on 
nations to ensure that children who have been sexually trafficked, 
exploited or sexually abused receive services to ensure a complete 
physical and psychological recovery.
  Ratification of this treaty is important to protect these vulnerable 
children. These children cannot often get help on their own--not only 
because of their young age--but also because they have no birth 
certificates or official documents. They are, in effect, ``invisible.''
  Earlier this year, both of these protocols attained the necessary 10 
ratifications to make them operative. The Child Soldier Protocol 
entered into force on February 12. The Sale of Children Protocol 
entered into force on January 18.
  Once again, I am pleased that the United States is adding its name as 
a ratifying party to these two treaties and I hope that more nations 
join us in expanding international protections for children.
  Mr. REID. I ask for a division vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. A division has been requested. Senators in 
favor of ratification please stand. (After a pause.) Those opposed will 
rise and stand until counted.
  On a division, two-thirds of the Senators present having voted in the 
affirmative, the resolution of ratification, with its reservation, 
understandings, declaration and condition, was agreed to as follows:

       Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
     therein),

     SECTION 1. ADVICE AND CONSENT TO RATIFICATION OF THE OPTIONAL 
                   PROTOCOL TO THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE 
                   CHILD ON THE SALE OF CHILDREN, CHILD 
                   PROSTITUTION, AND CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, SUBJECT TO 
                   A RESERVATION, UNDERSTANDINGS, A DECLARATION, 
                   AND A CONDITION.

       The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the 
     Optional Protocol Relating to the Convention on the Rights of 
     the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and 
     Child Pornography, opened for signature at New York on May 
     25, 2000 (Treaty Doc. 106-37; in this resolution referred to 
     as the ``Protocol''), subject to the reservation in section 
     2, the understandings in section 3, the declaration in 
     section 4, and the condition in section 5.

     SEC. 2. RESERVATION.

       The advice and consent of the Senate under section 1 is 
     subject to the reservation, which shall be included in the 
     United States instrument of ratification of the Protocol, 
     that, to the extent that the domestic law of the United 
     States does not provide for jurisdiction over an offense 
     described in Article 3(1) of the Protocol if the offense is 
     committed on board a ship or aircraft registered in the 
     United States, the obligation with respect to jurisdiction 
     over that offense shall not apply to the United States until 
     such time as the United States may notify the Secretary-
     General of the United Nations that United States domestic law 
     is in full conformity with the requirements of Article 4(1) 
     of the Protocol.

     SEC. 3. UNDERSTANDINGS.

       The advice and consent of the Senate under section 1 is 
     subject to the following understandings, which shall be 
     included in the United States instrument of ratification of 
     the Protocol:
       (1) No assumption of obligations under convention on the 
     rights of the child.--The United States understands that the 
     United States assumes no obligations under the Convention on 
     the Rights of the Child by becoming a party to the Protocol.
       (2) The term ``sale of children''.--The United States 
     understands that the term ``sale of children'', as defined in 
     Article 2(a) of the Protocol, is intended to cover any 
     transaction in which remuneration or other consideration is 
     given and received under circumstances in which a person who 
     does not have a lawful right to custody of the child thereby 
     obtains de facto control over the child.
       (3) The term ``child pornography''.-- The United States 
     understands the term ``child pornography'', as defined in 
     Article 2(c) of the Protocol, to mean the visual 
     representation of a child engaged in real or simulated sexual 
     activities or of the genitalia of a child where the dominant 
     characteristic is depiction for a sexual purpose.
       (4) The term ``transfer of organs for profit''.--The United 
     States understands that--
       (A) the term ``transfer of organs for profit'', as used in 
     Article 3(1)(a)(i) of the Protocol, does not cover any 
     situation in which a child donates an organ pursuant to 
     lawful consent; and
       (B) the term ``profit'', as used in Article 3(1)(a)(i) of 
     the Protocol, does not include the lawful payment of a 
     reasonable amount associated with the transfer of organs, 
     including any payment for the expense of travel, housing, 
     lost wages, or medical costs.
       (5) The terms ``applicable international legal 
     instruments'' and ``improperly inducing consent''.--
       (A) Understanding of ``applicable international legal 
     instruments''.--The United States understands that the term 
     ``applicable international legal instruments'' in Articles 
     3(1)(a)(ii) and 3(5) of the Protocol refers to the Convention 
     on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of 
     Intercountry Adoption done at The Hague on May 29, 1993 (in 
     this paragraph referred to as ``The Hague Convention'').
       (B) No obligation to take certain action.--The United 
     States is not a party to The Hague Convention, but expects to 
     become a party. Accordingly, until such time as the United 
     States becomes a party to The Hague Convention, it 
     understands that it is not obligated to criminalize conduct 
     proscribed by Article 3(1)(a)(ii) of the Protocol or to take 
     all appropriate legal and administrative measures required by 
     Article 3(5) of the Protocol.
       (C) Understanding of ``improperly inducing consent''.--The 
     United States understands that the term ``improperly inducing 
     consent'' in Article 3(1)(a)(ii) of the Protocol means 
     knowingly and willfully inducing consent by offering or 
     giving compensation for the relinquishment of parental 
     rights.

[[Page S5719]]

       (6) Implementation of the protocol in the federal system of 
     the united states.--The United States understands that the 
     Protocol shall be implemented by the Federal Government to 
     the extent that it exercises jurisdiction over the matters 
     covered therein, and otherwise by the State and local 
     governments. To the extent that State and local governments 
     exercise jurisdiction over such matters, the Federal 
     Government shall, as necessary, take appropriate measures to 
     ensure the fulfillment of the Protocol.

     SEC. 4. DECLARATION.

       The advice and consent of the Senate under section 1 is 
     subject to the declaration that--
       (1)(A) the provisions of the Protocol (other than Article 
     5) are non-self-executing; and
       (B) the United States will implement Article 5 of the 
     Protocol pursuant to chapter 209 of title 18, United States 
     Code; and
       (2) except as described in the reservation in section 2--
       (A) current United States law, including the laws of the 
     States of the United States, fulfills the obligations of the 
     Protocol for the United States; and
       (B) accordingly, the United States does not intend to enact 
     new legislation to fulfill its obligations under the 
     Protocol.

     SEC. 5. CONDITION.

       The advice and consent of the Senate under section 1 is 
     subject to the condition that the Senate reaffirms condition 
     (8) of the resolution of ratification of the Document Agreed 
     Among the States Parties to the Treaty on Conventional Armed 
     Forces in Europe (CFE) of November 19, 1990 (adopted at 
     Vienna on May 31, 1996), approved by the Senate on May 14, 
     1997 (relating to condition (1) of the resolution of 
     ratification of the INF Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 
     27, 1988).

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the motions to reconsider be 
laid upon the table, that any statements relating to the conventions be 
printed in the Record; that the President be immediately notified of 
the Senate's action; and the Senate return to legislative session.
  The motions to lay on the table were agreed to.

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