[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 27579]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                          ANNIVERSARY OF CEDAW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday, December 18, marked the 
22nd anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Convention on 
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, otherwise 
known as CEDAW. Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979, CEDAW 
established a universal definition of discrimination against women and 
provides international standards to discourage sex-based 
discrimination. These standards encourage equality in education, health 
care, employment, and all other areas of public life.
  This comprehensive United Nations treaty serves as a powerful tool 
for all women as they fight against discrimination, and this treaty has 
led to substantial improvements for women's lives in countries 
including Japan, Brazil, Sri Lanka, and Zambia. In fact, when Brazil 
redrafted its constitution, they used CEDAW as a framework for their 
human rights for women. The Brazilian constitution now contains 
provisions on gender equality, gender-based violence, equality of 
rights within marriage, family planning, and employment, paralleling 
those contained in CEDAW.
  To date, 168 countries have ratified CEDAW. However, the United 
States is not one of those countries. In fact, the United States is the 
only industrialized nation that has not ratified CEDAW, a distinction 
that places us in the company of North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan. 
The decision to abandon this embarrassing distinction is long overdue.
  The last 3 months have focused on recovering from the tragic events 
of September 11 and fighting against terrorism. And as a part of our 
response to the terrorist attacks, the U.S. has overthrown the Taliban, 
a government that stripped Afghan women of all freedoms, dignity, and 
respect. Now the United States will play an important role in 
rebuilding the Afghan Government. Critical to building this new 
democracy will be the inclusion and acceptance of Afghan women.
  But in our quest to help Afghanistan rebuild, we are presented with a 
shameful irony. While we are trying to teach the Afghani people that 
women must be an equal part of a post-Taliban democracy, we contradict 
ourselves by refusing to ratify the one international treaty that 
ensures the rights of all women. If we truly want to be regarded as a 
world leader and champion of human rights, our country must ratify this 
treaty. Women around the world are depending on the United States to 
show support for CEDAW, because United States' support will strengthen 
CEDAW's purpose and enhance its credibility.
  During my 9 years in Congress, the ratification of this treaty has 
been a top priority of mine. Although it is the purview of the other 
body to ratify a U.N. treaty, 90 bipartisan Members of the House of 
Representatives have signed a House Resolution asking the Senate to 
take up this issue and ratify CEDAW. Please join this effort to 
convince the administration and the other body that the time has come 
for the United States to join 168 other nations who have committed 
themselves to safeguarding basic human rights and ending gender 
discrimination and ratifying CEDAW.

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